Gluten stabilised gold nanocluster decorated titanium dioxide for photocatalytic hydrogen generation and dye degradation Meegle S. Mathew a,d , Dipankar Bain b , Clothilde Comby-Zerbino b , Swaraj Servottam c , Sabu Thomas d * and Rodolphe Antoine b * a School of Energy Materials, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India, b Institut Lumière Matière UMR 5306, Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Villeurbanne, France. rodolphe.antoine@univ-lyon1.fr, c Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, 560064, India, d Post Graduate and Research Department of Chemistry, Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam, India The development of sustainable and efficient photocatalysts is essential to address pressing global energy and environmental issues. In this study, we present a novel approach for synthesizing titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) photocatalysts decorated with gold nanoclusters (AuNCs), using gluten, a biopolymer derived from wheat as a green stabilizing and templating agent. Gluten facilitates the controlled growth and uniform dispersion of AuNCs, promoting strong interfacial interaction with the TiO 2 matrix. Comprehensive characterization using UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoluminescence analysis confirms the successful integration of AuNCs and reveals a synergistic interaction that enhances photocatalytic properties. The resulting AuNC/TiO 2 nanocomposite exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. Hydrogen evolution studies show a remarkable increase in H 2 generation efficiency compared to bare TiO 2 , attributed to improved light absorption and more efficient charge separation at the metal–semiconductor interface. Additionally, the nanocomposite demonstrates excellent performance in the degradation of methylene blue, serving as a model pollutant, thus indicating its strong potential for wastewater treatment. This work highlights the promise of biopolymer-stabilized nanoclusters in the design of multifunctional photocatalysts for energy conversion and environmental remediation. References 1. J. Su, J. Zhang, S. Chai, M. Anpo, Y. Fang, X. Wang, Developments of photocatalytic overall water splitting to produce H2, Nano Materials Science (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.NANOMS.2024.08.006. 2. K. Maeda, K. Domen, Photocatalytic Water Splitting: Recent Progress and Future Challenges, J Phys Chem Lett 1 (2010) 2655–2661. https://doi.org/10.1021/jz1007966. 3. S. Khan, T. Noor, N. Iqbal, L. Yaqoob, Photocatalytic Dye Degradation from Textile Wastewater: A Review, ACS Omega 9 (2024) 21751–21767. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c00887. 4. M.S. Mathew, G. Krishnan, A.A. Mathews, K. Sunil, L. Mathew, R. Antoine, S. Thomas, Recent Progress on Ligand- Protected Metal Nanoclusters in Photocatalysis, Nanomaterials 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13121874. 5. L. Tian, X. Guan, S. Zong, A. Dai, J. Qu, Cocatalysts for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting: A Mini Review, Catalysts 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13020355. 6. S.J. Armaković, M.M. Savanović, S. Armaković, Titanium Dioxide as the Most Used Photocatalyst for Water Purification: An Overview, Catalysts 13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/catal13010026. 7. T. Goswami, K.M. Reddy, A. Bheemaraju, Silver Nanocluster Anchored TiO2/Nb2O5 Hybrid Nanocomposite as Highly Efficient and Selective Visible-Light Sensitive Photocatalyst, ChemistrySelect 4 (2019) 6790–6799. https://doi.org/10.1002/ SLCT.201901097. 8. M.M. Haruta, T. Kobayashi, H. Sano, N. Yamada, Novel Gold Catalysts for the Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide at a Temperature far Below 0 °C, Chem Lett 16 (1987) 405–408. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:98138632. 9. M.S. Mathew, K. Joseph, Green Synthesis of Gluten-Stabilized Fluorescent Gold Quantum Clusters: Application As Turn-On Sensing of Human Blood Creatinine, ACS Sustain Chem Eng 5 (2017) 4837–4845. https://doi.org/10.1021/ ACSSUSCHEMENG.7B00273/SUPPL_FILE/SC7B00273_SI_001.PDF.
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