Design of photocatalysts
Titanium Dioxide, TiO2, is considered a safe substance and harmless to human. It is commonly used in paint, printing ink, plastics, paper, synthetic fibers, rubber, condensers, painting colors and crayons, ceramics, electronic components along with food and cosmetics. TiO2 can be effectively employed in catalytic reactions such as selective reduction of NOx to N2, decomposition of VOCs (including dioxines and chlorinated compounds), hydrogen production by gas shift production, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, CO oxidation by O2, reduction of SO2 to S by CO, and NO2 storage.

We have focused our attention on the:
> Development of N and B doped TiO2 for dyes degradation and after suitable metal loading for hydrogen production from alcoholic solutions;
> Development of Nano Semiconductor Metal Oxides such as ZnO, NiO, WO3, Bi2O3 and their mixtures in various proportions by sol-gel & co-precipitation technique for hydrogen production (either by bio-ethanol or water splitting) as well as environmental applications.

Selected recent publications
1. V. Gombac, L. Sordelli, T. Montini, J. J. Delgado, A. Adamski, G. Adami, M. Cargnello, S. Bernal and P. Fornasiero, “CuOx-TiO2 Photocatalysts for H2 Production from Ethanol and Glycerol Solutions.”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 114 (2010), 3916-3925, doi:10.1021/jp907242q.
2. D. Barreca, P. Fornasiero, A. Gasparotto, V. Gombac, C. Maccato, T. Montini and E. Tondello, “The potential of supported Cu2O and CuO nanosystems in photocatalytic H2 production.”, ChemSusChem 2 (2009), 230-233, doi:10.1002/cssc.200900032.