Rhodium nanoparticles for ultraviolet plasmonics

The nonoxidizing catalytic noble metal rhodium is introduced for ultraviolet plasmonics. Planar tripods of 8 nm Rh nanoparticles, synthesized by a modified polyol reduction method, have a calculated local surface plasmon resonance near 330 nm. By attaching p-aminothiophenol, local field-enhanced Raman spectra and accelerated photodamage were observed under near-resonant ultraviolet illumination, while charge transfer simultaneously increased fluorescence for up to 13 min. The combined local field enhancement and charge transfer demonstrate essential steps toward plasmonically enhanced ultraviolet photocatalysis.This work has been supported by NSF-ECCS-12-32239. This work was partially supported by the Army’s In-house Laboratory Innovative Research program. Financial support from USAITCA (project no. W911NF-13-1-0245) and MICINN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project no. FIS2013- 45854-P) is also acknowledged

Can information affect sensory perceptions? Evidence from a survey on Italian organic food consumers

This paper aims to investigate the influence of information on consumers’ preferences and sensory perceptions of organic food using a sample of 301 Italian organic food consumers. Consumers stated their preferences for “core organic” attributes, labels and information on food products and performed blind and informed tests on strawberry yoghurts and cookies. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney U tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results revealed that consumers appreciate “core organic” attributes, like artisanal production and variability of sensory attributes. Comparing blind and informed tests, results showed that information affects the overall liking of products and consumers’ perception of product-specific sensory attributes. However, the influence of information on sensory perceptions depends on the product category, sensory attributes and the type of information provided

Chapter 2 - Ceria Nanoshapes-Structural and Catalytic Properties

This chapter describes the synthesis of ceria nanoshapes (cubes, rods, and octahedra) and detailed characterization of their structure and exposed surface facets. We show how the surface facets influence catalytic performance for the low-temperature water gas shift reaction. The use of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy provides insights into the mechanistic steps involved in this industrially important reaction. Ceria is a versatile material used in diverse areas such as medicine, fuel cells, sensors, and water treatment, but the primary focus of this chapter is on heterogeneous catalysis by ceria

Preparation and characterisation of stoichiometrically defined, single phase molybdenum, tungsten, and vanadium oxides as model substances for partial oxidation catalysts

Correlation between XRD (bulk structure) and Raman spectroscopy Refine Hardcastle-Wachs-model for suboxides Resonance Raman effect on molybdenum-, vanadium and tungsten oxides Raman measurements with different laser excitation line