Eur. Phys. J. B 75, 107-114 (2010)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2010-00114-6

Elementary processes at nanoparticulate photocatalysts

Carl v. Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Institute for Pure and Applied Chemistry and Center of Interface Science, P.O. Box 2503, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany

Corresponding author: katharina.al.shamery@uni-oldenburg.de

Received: 14 November 2009
Revised: 26 February 2010
Published online: 7 April 2010

Abstract

The paper is a mini review on the authors own work related to laser induced processes at metal nanoparticle/oxidic support systems. A number of aspects will be addressed ranging from the nano particle size dependence on the efficiency of the photochemical process, the influence of low coordination sites of the nano particles and dynamical processes such as energy transfer between adsorbates, light induced particle changes or spill over processes. The paper reviews nano and femtosecond laser experiments as well as quantum state resolved experiments. Results will be compared to typical findings from simple oxidic supports and metal single crystals. This review may be of interest for future photocatalyst development for applications such as solar fuel synthesis and related problems.