Papers by Author: Masato Kakihana

Abstract: Highly crystalline titania nano-particles were synthesized by hydrothermal method using novel stable water-soluble titanium complexes. It was confirmed that single phase anatase, rutile and brookite, which can be rarely synthesized as a single phase, can be obtained by varying the ligand in the complex and pH of the aqueous solution. TEM observations and BET specific surface area measurements had shown that these samples consisted of nanosized particles of 5~200 nm and had high specific surface areas of 25~150 m2/g. According to UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra, these titania samples absorbed light in the visible region (λ > 400 nm). Photocatalytic activities in NO oxidation reaction exhibited by synthesized titania powders under the irradiation by UV- visible light were higher than the activity of the commercial TiO2 photocatalyst P25 (Degussa). Especially, under illumination by only visible light of above 510 nm wavelength, photocatalytic activity of the obtained specimens exceeded that of P25 more than four times. We also clearly demonstrated that single phase brookite had high photocatalytic activity for NO oxidation.

Abstract: We report a fabrication of high-density nanodots by photodoping in overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d thin film (Tc = 80 K). A scanning near-field optical microscope probe is used to locally excite carrier, and photodoped region is associated with lower Tc phase (Tc = 75 K) via overdoping. Nanoscale characterizations with optical reflectivity reveal that nanodots (30-nm diameter) are regularly distributed in 50-nm step. The resultant films with photoinduced nanodots enhance Jc, a situation being similar to strong pinning effects observed in films modified by either ion irradiation or sputtered nanoparticles. These results suggest that photoinduced nanodots with lower Tc act as effective pinning centers.