Title:

Surface Functionalization of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles For Enhanced Interaction with a Guest-Functionalized Catalyst

In the fight against climate change, many energy alternatives have been explored to reduce carbon emissions and continue to produce the energy we need to thrive. Solar photocatalysis is one such avenue, primarily in the production of clean fuels like hydrogen, which can be burned whilst avoiding carbon dioxide generation. One method to generate H2 exploits electron transfer from a light-absorbing photosensitizer to a proton reducing transition-metal complex. In the Caputo Group, Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), a semi-conducting nanoparticle, is the chosen photosensitizer for surface functionalization. Previously, a macrocyclic carboxylic acid-functionalized pillar[5]arene (CAP[5]) has been loaded onto TiO2 to test host-guest self-assembly with a guest-functionalized cobaloxime hydrogen generation catalyst. CAP[5] is formed through a multi-step synthetic route, which raised the question of whether the anchoring of commercially available, non-macrocyclic compounds might lead to similar non-covalent interactions and result in a similar catalytic activity. In this poster, I demonstrate that commercially available terephthalic acid can be loaded onto TiO2 and quantified using UV-Vis difference spectroscopy. I also present our photocatalytic results, that showed similar H2 generation for 4 samples, comparing the effect of different molecules at the surface. More concentrated loading solutions are needed to increase the surface loading since catalysis is due to the catalyst simply being reduced by bare TiO2 (likely that the loaded compounds were present at levels below a monolayer coverage).

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