Catalyst coated semiconductor

Tricot, Y.-M. and Fendler, J.H., Colloidal catalyst-coated semiconductors in surfactant vesicles In situ generation of Rh-coated CdS particles in dihexadecylphosphate vesicles and their utilization for photosensitized charge separation and hydrogen generation, /. Am. Chem. Soc., 106, 7359,1984. 

The philosophy of membrane-mimetic chemistry may be illustrated by a comparison of plant photosynthesis with sacrificial water photoreduction in artificial systems the process has been mediated by metal-catalyst-coated semiconductor colloids supported on polymerized vesicles (Fig. 4a) [59-64]. 

Figure 1. Basic features of sacrificial water reduction systems. (A) Homogeneous solution, with sensitizer, S, electron relay, R, sacrificial electron donor, D, and metal catalyst. (B) Catalyst-coated colloidal semiconductor dispersion, obviating the need for electron relay.

Modern technological developments and many fields of pure and applied research depend on the quantitative information about the spatial element distribution in thin solid layers and thin-film systems. For example, without the use of thin films the experimental studies on the physics of semiconductor are very difficult. Similarly the diffusion processes in solids, sandwich-like thin films structures in microelectronics, anti-reflecting or selectively transparent optical films, catalysts, coatings, composites - all rely on material properties on an atomic scale. The development of these new materials as well as the understanding of the basic physical and chemical properties that determine their specific characters are not possible without the knowledge of their compositional structure, in particular in the interface regions. 

Three common uses of RBS analysis exist quantitative depth profiling, areal concentration measurements (atoms/cm ), and crystal quality and impurity lattice site analysis. Its primary application is quantitative depth profiling of semiconductor thin films and multilayered structures. It is also used to measure contaminants and to study crystal structures, also primarily in semiconductor materials. Other applications include depth profilii of polymers, high-T superconductors, optical coatings, and catalyst particles. ... 

Schwerzel, R.E. and Spahr, K.B., Hydrogen Production with Photoactive Semiconductor Catalysts Stabilized by Metallized Plasma Polymer Coatings, Final Report to U.S. Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Battelle, 1989. 

In its present stage of development, the electron theory of catalysis deals with catalysts which by their electrical properties belong to the class of semiconductors. Catalysis on semiconductors, as is well known, is extremely widespread, far more so than might appear at first sight. This is due to the circumstance that in most cases a metal is enclosed in a semiconducting coat and the processes which apparently take place on the surface of the metal actually take place on the surface of this semiconducting coat, whereas the underlying metal frequently takes practically no part in the process. 

Conductive polymers are useful semiconductors or coating materials to construct solar cells. A new photodiode is proposed to be made from a film of a polymer metal complex. Immobilized catalysts on polymers are used for solar energy storage systems. 

We have shown how the band structure of photoexcited semiconductor particles makes them effective oxidation catalysts. Because of the heterogeneous nature of the photoactivation, selective chemistry can ensue from preferential adsorption, from directed reactivity between adsorbed reactive intermediates, and from the restriction of ECE processes to one electron routes. The extension of these experiments to catalyze chemical reductions and to address heterogeneous redox reactions of biologically important molecules should be straightforward. In fact, the use of surface-modified powders coated with chiral polymers has recently been reputed to cause asymmetric induction at prochiral redox centers. As more semiconductor powders become routinely available, the importance of these photocatalysts to organic chemistry is bound to increase. 

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