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Chemistry Commons

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Materials Chemistry

Western Kentucky University

Series

2022

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Real-Time Monitoring Of Paraquat Photodegradation Using Colloidal Gold Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Nathan Wilson May 2022

Real-Time Monitoring Of Paraquat Photodegradation Using Colloidal Gold Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Nathan Wilson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Monitoring chemical reactions in aqueous solution is a challenge because most instrumental techniques either are not suited for the rapid timescales, are not sensitive enough to detect products at low concentrations, or do not have sufficient structure-to-spectrum relationships. Raman spectroscopy is a promising method to monitor reactions, as it is fast, dependent on chemical structure, and has little interference from water. However, Raman scattering is generally very weak. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) improves the signal strength of Raman spectroscopy by using a metal surface plasmon, or oscillation of the surface’s electrons, to allow for highly selective and sensitive detection and …


Towards Semiconductor Nanorods With Nickel/Iron Cocatalyst., Kehinde Ayorinde Apr 2022

Towards Semiconductor Nanorods With Nickel/Iron Cocatalyst., Kehinde Ayorinde

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The adverse effects associated with the utilization of fossil fuels has led to the need to provide an alternative cleaner energy. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction via water splitting provides a renewable pathway to generating energy. Our photocatalyst system includes a semiconductor component (CdSe/CdS core/shell nanorods) to capture light and an attached metal (cocatalyst) for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Platinum is an effective metal catalyst for this reaction due to strong proton binding energy that easily facilitates the reduction of water to produce hydrogen gas. However, due to the high cost of platinum, there is a need to find a less …