New Perspectives in Science Education
Development and Implementation of a Science Camp on Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide – From Colorful Surfaces to Sustainable Applications
Christoph Weidmann, Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany)
Thomas Waitz, Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany)
Abstract
Nanostructured materials are of great interest in industry and research. Their useful properties for a wide variety of applications are mainly caused by two phenomena: (a) Differences in the electronic structure related to particle size, resulting in changes in the band gap of semiconductors or the occurrence of surface plasmon resonance and (b) a vastly increased surface-to-volume ratio for particles and structures with dimensions in the order of < 100 nm.
In this contribution, we present a science camp on nanoscopic titanium dioxide structures. Nanostructured titanium dioxide is well known in literature to benefit from an increased specific surface area and makes a material which is otherwise most notably known as a white pigment useful for various functional application. Despite these advantages, TiO2 nanoparticles are associated with health risks in several studies[1] and therefore not suited for use in schools and student laboratories. However, nanoporous titanium dioxide layers on metal surfaces which are not prone to dust formation and are therefore safe to handle can be easily prepared via anodic oxidation of titanium foil. This science camp was successfully conducted three times in the past years with more than 45 students from all over Germany and focused on the versatility of nanostructures, where the students prepared the titanium dioxide layers themselves from scratch and used them to build semiconductor gas sensors[2], dye-sensitized solar cells, sodium-ion batteries and composite electrodes for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide.[3] Herein, we present a set of experiments with a schedule tested in an actual science camp with a duration of three to four days as well as teaching materials showing how the experiments are linked to actual research.
REFERENCES
[1] Baranowska-Wójcik et al., Biological Trace Element Research 2020, 93, 118–129
[2] Bogdan et al., World Journal of Chemical Education 2023, 11(3), 54–59
[3] Lanfermann et al., CHEMKON 2022, 29(8), 225–233
