Chelsey Cortes
Major/Minor: Major: Biochemistry and Microbiology / Minor: Spanish
Title: Hot Electron Chemistry Via Bond Activation on Bimetallic Titanium Nitride and Ruthenium Core-Shell Nanoparticles
Abstract: Catalysts are an integral part of many chemical reactions that are used today. Modern catalysts, however, are not selective, nor are they efficient enough to satisfy today’s global needs and in some instances, lead to an increase in pollution. Petroleum industries, in fact, are some of the most significant contributors of carbon monoxide pollution and hydrocarbon emissions which are a result of the incomplete composition of petroleum. Bimetallic core-shell nanoparticles that are capable of generating very excited “hot electrons” due to their plasmonic properties are promising new form catalysts that can be potentially used to mitigate carbon monoxide pollution. Additionally, these core-shell nanoparticles can potentially be utilized to carry forward other photochemical reactions in an environmentally friendly manner while being cost-effective. We have successfully synthesized titanium nitride core-shell nanoparticles with a transition metal, ruthenium. UV-Vis spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Transition electron microscopy, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy have been used to characterize the size, morphology and distribution of the as-prepared particles; the photochemical properties of the core-shell particles will later be studied. We aim to understand how the electronic structure of a photocatalyst can be tuned to allow the conversion of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide or methanol. Overall, these core-shell nanoparticles have the potential to offer an efficient and selective framework required by modern green photocatalysts.
