Nano-metals, nano-metal oxides, and carbon-based nanomaterials exhibit superior solar-to-chemical/photo-electron transfer properties and are potential candidates for environmental remediations and energy transfer. Recent research effort focuses on enhancing the efficiency of photoinduced electron-hole separation to improve energy transfer in catalytic reactions. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy has been used to monitor the generation of electron/hole and reactive oxygen species (ROS) during nanomaterial-mediated photocatalysis. Using ESR coupled with spin trapping and spin labeling techniques, the underlying photocatalytic mechanism involved in the nanomaterial-mediated photocatalysis was investigated. In this review, we briefly introduced ESR principle and summarized recent advancements using ESR spectroscopy to characterize electron-hole separation and ROS production by different types of nanomaterials.
Keyphrases
- electron transfer
- energy transfer
- reactive oxygen species
- single molecule
- solar cells
- estrogen receptor
- quantum dots
- room temperature
- density functional theory
- high resolution
- human health
- visible light
- atomic force microscopy
- dna damage
- liquid chromatography
- perovskite solar cells
- cell death
- risk assessment
- molecular dynamics
- climate change
- high speed