Optical Properties of Gallium Oxide Clusters from First-Principles Calculations

Enhanced, robust light-driven H2 generation by gallium-doped titania nanoparticles

The splitting of water into molecular hydrogen and oxygen with the use of renewable solar energy is considered one of the most promising routes to yield sustainable fuel. Herein, we report the H₂ evolution performance of gallium doped TiO₂ photocatalysts with varying degrees of Ga dopant. The gallium(iii) ions induced significant changes in the structural, textural and electronic properties of TiO₂ nanoparticles, resulting in remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity and good stability for H₂ production. Ga³⁺ ions can act as hole traps that enable a large number of excited electrons to migrate towards the TiO₂ surface, thereby facilitating electron transfer and charge separation. Additionally, the cationic dopant and its induced defects might introduce a mid-gap state, promoting electron migration and prolonging the lifetime of charge carrier pairs. We have discovered that the optimal Ga dopant concentration was 3.125 at% and that the incorporation of platinum (0.5 wt%) as a co-catalyst further improved the H₂ evolution rate up to 5722 μmol g^-1 h^-1. Pt not only acts as an electron sink, drastically increasing the electron/hole pair lifetime, but it also creates an intimate contact at the heterojunction between Pt and Ga-TiO₂, thus improving the interfacial electron transfer process. These catalyst design strategies provide new ways of designing transition metal photocatalysts that improve green fuel production from renewable solar energy and water.

Monoclinic Ga2O3 (100) surface as a robust photocatalyst for water-splitting

The β-Ga₂O₃ (100) surface, with or without defects, as a robust photocatalyst for water decomposition was studied on the basis of density functional theory (DFT).

Time dependent DFT investigation of the optical response in pristine and Gd doped Al2O3

The optical absorption spectra and static polarizabilities for the lowest energy configurations of Al₂O₃ and Gd doped (Al₂O₃)_n clusters (n = 1–10) are investigated based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) formalism.

Synthesis of high-purity, layered structured K2Ta4O11 intermediate phase nanocrystals for photocatalytic water splitting

New high-purity kalitantite intermediate phase with a layered structure for photocatalytic water splitting.

Evolutionary growth of microscale single crystalline GaN on an amorphous layer by the combination of MBE and MOCVD

Epitaxial GaN layers are grown on amorphous substrate by the combination of MBE and MOCVD. MBE growth step provided uniform, preferred orientation and MOCVD enabled improved crystalline quality.