8 research outputs found

    XPS and NEXAFS study of fluorine modified TiO2 nano-ovoids reveals dependence of Ti3+ surface population on the modifying agent

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    This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)Crystalline titanium dioxide was synthesised under mild conditions by the thermal degradation of peroxotitanic acid in the presence of a number of fluoride-containing surface modifying agents (NH4F, NH4BF4, NH4PF6, NBu4F, NBu4BF4, NBu4PF6). The resulting materials were characterised by PXRD, SEM, HRTEM, XPS and NEXAFS. Particle phase, size, and surface area were noticeably affected by the choice of surface modifying agent. Both the cation and anion comprising the modifying agent affect the surface Ti3+ population of the materials, with two apparent trends observed: F− > BF4− > PF6− and NBu4+ > NH4+. All materials displayed evidence of fluorine doping on their surfaces, although no evidence of bulk doping was observed

    Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

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    Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

    Synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: phase, morphology and size control

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    Titanium dioxide is a well-studied and popular photocatalyst, but a number of factors still prevent its widespread use in a number of commercial applications. In this thesis we explored the synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles via the sol-gel method, with the goal of creating a viable catalyst for the visible-light degradation of wastewater dyes. A number of different synthetic pathways were explored and developed, and the products categorised with respect to nanoparticle size, shape and crystallinity as well as electronic and photocatalytic properties

    Toward Control of Gold Cluster Aggregation on TiO<sub>2</sub> via Surface Treatments

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    Well-defined Au–TiO<sub>2</sub> materials were synthesized by deposition of triphenylphosphine-protected Au<sub>9</sub> clusters on TiO<sub>2</sub> (Aeroxide P-25), pre-treated in eight different ways and subsequently exposed to two post-treatments. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy studies showed that in most cases the PPh<sub>3</sub> ligand shell was removed upon deposition even before post-treatment, coinciding with some cluster aggregation. However, clusters deposited on TiO<sub>2</sub> treated using H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> showed remarkable resistance to aggregation, even after high-temperature calcination, while clusters on H<sub>2</sub>-treated TiO<sub>2</sub> showed the greatest resistance to aggregation under ozonolysis

    Chemically synthesised atomically precise gold clusters deposited and activated on titania. Part II

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    Synchrotron XPS was used to investigate a series of chemically synthesised, atomically precise gold clusters Au(n)(PPh3)y (n = 8, 9 and 101, y depending on the cluster size) immobilized on anatase (titania) nanoparticles. Effects of post-deposition treatments were investigated by comparison of untreated samples with analogues that have been heat treated at 200 °C in O2, or in O2 followed by H2 atmosphere. XPS data shows that the phosphine ligands are oxidised upon heat treatment in O2. From the position of the Au 4f(7/2) peak it can be concluded that the clusters partially agglomerate immediately upon deposition. Heating in oxygen, and subsequently in hydrogen, leads to further agglomeration of the gold clusters. It is found that the pre-treatment plays a crucial role in the removal of ligands and agglomeration of the clusters.David P. Anderson, Rohul H. Adnan, Jason F. Alvino, Oliver Shipper, Baira Donoeva, Jan-Yves Ruzicka, Hassan Al Qahtani, Hugh H. Harris, Bruce Cowie, Jade B. Aitken, Vladimir B. Golovko, Gregory F. Metha and Gunther G. Andersso
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