Liuxian Zhang joined Dr. Crozier’s group in fall of 2010 as a Ph.D. Student. His research focuses on preparation of novel TiO2 based photocatalyst materials and in-situ characterization of these materials in an environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM) under light exposure. Photocatalysts are used for decomposition of pollutant organic compounds and have potentials for water splitting and CO2 reduction. However, the efficiency of transferring light energy is still low and many fundamentals like the surface change, charge transfers and reactants absorption/desorption are still not clear. It is now recognized that atomic level in-situ observations of catalytic nanomaterials are critical for understanding structure-reactivity relations because the active form of the material may exist only under reaction conditions. For photocatalysts, this requires that the nanomaterial be observed not only in the presence of reactant and product species but also during in-situ light illumination.
Well defined rhombohedral shape anatase nanocrystals were fabricated and used as the sample material. Surface disordering and amorphization were observed under exposure to light and water vapor. Noble metal coated or other semiconductor sensitized TiO2 are also prepared and studied under light irradiation in ETEM.
Journal Publications:
Liuxian Zhang, Benjamin Miller and Peter Crozier.
Atomic Level In Situ Observation of Surface Amorphization in Anatase Nanocrystals During Light Irradiation in Water Vapor Nano Lett., 2013, 13 (2), pp 679–684
Conference Presentations:
Poster Presentation ” Synthesis and In-Situ Characterization of Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalysts in Titania-based Semiconductor Nanocomposites “, Materials Research Society Meeting, San Francisco, 2012.
Oral Presentation ” In-Situ Analysis of TiO2 Photocatalysts under Light Exposure in the Environmental TEM “, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Phoenix, 2012.
Oral Presentation ” CdS Sensitized TiO2 Nanorod Photocatalysts under Light Exposure in the Environmental TEM “, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Phoenix, 2012.
Oral Presentation ” Atomic Level Observation of Surface Amorphization in Anatase Photocatalyst During Light Irradiation in Water Vapor “, 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting, Louisville, 2013
Oral Presentation ” Atomic Level In Situ Observation of Surface Amorphization in Anatase Photocatalyst During Light Irradiation in Water Vapor “, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Indianapolis, 2013
Oral Presentation ” In-situ Characterization of Light Induced Ag Particle Nucleation and Growth on TiO2 “, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Indianapolis, 2013
Contact：
School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy Arizona State University Tempe AZ 85287-8706 Phone: 4802410684 Email:lzhang75@asu.edu