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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Production and Detection of Reactive Oxygen Species ROS in Cancers
Published on: November 21, 2011
Enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species and photocatalytic activity by Pt-based metallic nanostructures: the
Lixia Zhang1,2, Huimin Jia1,3, Chuang Liu1,2
1a Key Laboratory for Micro-Nano Energy Storage and Conversion Materials of Henan Province , Institute of Surface Micro and Nano Materials; College of Advance Materials and Energy, Xuchang University , Xuchang , Henan , China.
Abstract:
The modification of semiconductor nanostructures with metallic nanocomponents can promote the separation of electron/hole from photoexited semiconductors by forming heterojunctions, thus exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activities and potential applications. In this study, Pt-based NPs, including Pt, PtCu, and PtCuCo are employed as model co-catalysts to comparatively study their capability to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanosheets. It was found that each of Pt, PtCu, and PtCuCo can greatly enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 toward degradation of organic dyes. Using electron spin resonance spectroscopy, we demonstrated that deposition of Pt-based NPs resulted in more production of reactive oxygen species including hydroxyl radicals, superoxide, and singlet oxygen. The enhancing effects of Pt-based NPs on generation of ROS and photocatalytic activity showed same trend: PtCuCo > PtCu > Pt. The mechanism underlying the enhancement differences in Pt-based NPs may be mainly related to electronic structure change of Pt in alloying with Cu and Co. These results are valuable for designing hybrid nanomaterials with high photocatalytic efficiency for applications in water purification and antibacterial products.
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