Electric Field-Driven Catalytic Activity Using a Bioinspired Peptide and Titanium Dioxide Semiconductor Composite with Metal Nanoparticles

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalytic processes facilitated by the localized surface plasmon resonance excitation in plasmonic nanomaterials possess the potential to increase product yield and selectivity in a range of redox reactions beyond what is possible when using traditional catalysis-based approaches. In this article, we demonstrate electric field (that was generated by applying DC voltage) driven redox catalysis (with and without UV irradiation) using plasmonic nanoparticles with a peptide nanotube/titanium dioxide hybrid semiconductor nanocomposite. The applied DC voltage reduces the bandgap of the peptide nanotubes, enabling control over the semiconductor-metal charge transfer rate. In the presence of the electric field, product formation from the hybrid semiconductor nanocomposite was c.a. 5 times faster than when using peptide nanotubes or titanium dioxide alone. The product formation was further enhanced in combination with UV irradiation with an overall 9-fold enhancement.

A WOx/MoOx hybrid oxide based SERS FET and investigation on its tunable SERS performance

“…In view of the above dilemmas, the novel SERS substrate with the ability of efficiently and actively tunable SERS performance has attracted enormous interest. 29,30 In the very early study, electrochemistry workstations were employed to adjust the voltage potential on the electrodes, revealing changes in the intensities of SERS peaks associated with varying electrode potentials. 31 This phenomenon can be attributed to the alteration in transferred charges.…”