Fyzikální ústav Akademie věd ČR

TiO₂ is a prototypical metal oxide used in many applications such as photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical solar cells, and transparent conducting oxides. Two forms of TiO₂ are used industrially – rutile and anatase. Electron transfer between substrate and adsorbed species is a key step in heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. I will focus on activating adsorbed O₂ molecules via an electron transfer from the anatase and rutile TiO₂ substrates. O₂ molecules are inert, mainly due to the triplet spin configuration.

2D-layers, like graphene or a monolayer of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), enable the creation of new materials, unforeseen reaction pathways or striking confinement effects. Three examples for this statement are given. (i) Room temperature deposition on a 2D-layer moiré with an Ir(111) substrate results in the formation of a regular array of clusters with a narrow size distribution and high thermal stability. Such arrays may be of great use for applications in nanocatalysis and nanomagentism. Here we will specifically discuss the formation of a novel carbon cluster / graphene compound.