CAS: Enhancing the Reactivity and Photoreactivity of Metal Oxide Surfaces through Fluorination

在化学系大分子，超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，康奈尔大学的Melissa Hines博士将使用扫描隧道显微镜，X射线光电子能谱和密度泛函理论研究氟化和氟掺杂二氧化钛的反应性和光反应性。对这些表面的原子级理解有望有助于开发可持续的、无毒的、地球上丰富的纳米催化剂和光催化剂。Hines博士和研究团队正在推进纳米催化，可持续化学和表面科学的发现。这项研究也在培养下一代科学家，这对保持美国经济竞争力至关重要。 为了增加进入科学技术领域的学生的数量和多样性，正在开发面向中学生的模块，该模块侧重于学生和教师共同参与的定量测量和科学实验。本研究涉及化学反应的开发和超净反应器，以研究氟化二氧化钛的液相化学和光化学。这包括确定导致氟官能化二氧化钛表面的主要机制和光生电荷载流子在这些机制中的作用，确定用于制备原子级平坦氟化二氧化钛表面的新增溶剂，以及评估增溶剂对二氧化钛光反应性的影响。本研究亦将探讨有机酸在水溶液中的光化学反应。发展对这些表面及其反应性的原子级理解有可能使钝化，污染-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Melissa Hines of Cornell University will investigate the reactivity and photoreactivity of fluorinated and fluorine-doped titanium dioxide using scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory. The resulting atomic-scale understanding of these surfaces is expected to contribute to the development of sustainable, non-toxic, earth-abundant nanocatalysts and photocatalysts. Dr. Hines and the research team are advancing discovery in nanocatalysis, sustainable chemistry, and surface science. This research is also training the next generation of scientists in a field that is important to maintaining US economic competitiveness. To increase the number and diversity of students entering science and technology fields, they are developing modules for middle school students that focus on quantitative measurements and scientific experiments that engage both students and faculty.This research involves the development of chemical reactions and an ultraclean reactor to study the solution-phase chemistry and photochemistry of fluorinated titanium dioxide. This includes the determination of the primary mechanisms that lead to fluorine-functionalized titanium dioxide surfaces and the role of photogenerated charge carriers in these mechanisms, identification of new fluorination agents for preparing atomically flat fluorinated titanium dioxide surfaces, and assessment of the impact of fluorination on the photoreactivity of titanium dioxide. This research will also address the photo-fluorination of organic acids in aqueous solution. Developing an atomic-scale understanding of these surfaces and their reactivity has the potential to enable the production of passivated, contamination-resistant metal oxide surfaces and high reactivity photofluorination catalysts that operate under more environmentally friendly conditions than current catalysts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.