Occlusion electrosynthesis

More recently, matrix-semiconductor composites, i.e., films comprising of semiconductor particles that are dispersed in a nonphotoactive continuous matrix, have been developed. Examples of matrix candidates are metals and polymers [411-416]. Occlusion electrosynthesis is a versatile method for preparing such composite films, as exemplified by the Ni-Ti02 and Ni-CdS family [417-419]. 

The second important feature of a metal-semiconductor composite approach is that the metal can function as a template for chemical or electrochemical deriva-tization to afford a film comprising of molecular redox-semiconductor (or even semiconductor-semiconductor) contacts. Figure 34 generically illustrates the occlusion electrosynthesis approach for preparing M-TiO composite films and a subsequent derivatization with ferri/ferrocyanide to afford the corresponding metal hexacyanoferrate (MHCF)-Ti02 counterparts [424]. 

Figure 34. Schematic illustration of the occlusion electrosynthesis approach for the preparation of M-Ti02 (M = metal) composite films and subsequent chemical derivatization to yield the metal hexacyanoferrate (MHCF)-Ti02 counterparts. Refer to the text for further details.

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