Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 94: Oxides and insulators: Adsorption and reaction of small molecules
O 94.9: Vortrag
Freitag, 13. März 2026, 11:45–12:00, HSZ/0204
Methanol photodecomposition on TiO2(110) under UV illumination studied with vibrational SFG spectroscopy in ambient conditions — •Milad Salarinasab1, Julian Andreas Hochhaus1, Anas Akhtar2, Kristina Tschulik2, Carsten Westphal1, Zhe Wang1, and Ahmed Ghalgaoui1 — 1Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, Dortmund, 44227, Germany — 2Analytical chemistry II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
Methanol is widely used as a model system for photocatalysis on TiO2 surfaces, but many earlier investigations were performed in UHV and therefore do not reflect real catalytic conditions. To address this gap, we studied methanol photodecomposition on TiO2(110) under realistic ambient conditions using vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. By recording spectra in the C-H stretch region, we followed CH3, CH2, and methoxy species during UV illumination and monitored how these surface species evolve in real time.
The SFG signals show clear differences from the reaction pathways commonly described in vacuum studies. Most importantly, we identify a new photodecomposition route that becomes active only under realistic conditions combined with UV excitation. This finding provides new insight into methanol chemistry on TiO2(110) and helps connect surface science studies with photocatalytic behavior in practical environments.
Keywords: methanol photodecomposition; TiO2(110); ambient conditions; sum-frequency generation (SFG); surface reaction pathways