{"id":1739,"date":"2026-11-11T14:51:03","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T14:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2026-11-11T14:51:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T14:51:03","slug":"phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-tio2-quantum-dots-for-highly-efficient-formic-acid-dehydrogenation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-tio2-quantum-dots-for-highly-efficient-formic-acid-dehydrogenation\/","title":{"rendered":"Phosphonate surface engineering of TiO2 quantum dots for highly efficient formic acid dehydrogenation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Christos Dimitriou, Christos Gkatziouras, Elodie Gioan, Maria Louloudi, Johan G. Alauzun, Yiannis Deligiannakis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/ta\/article\/doi\/10.1039\/d6ta06531g\/1374897\/Phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-TiO2-quantum\">https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/ta\/article\/doi\/10.1039\/d6ta06531g\/1374897\/Phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-TiO2-quantum<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Picture1xd.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"432\" height=\"264\" src=\"http:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Picture1xd.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Picture1xd.png 432w, https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Picture1xd-300x183.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Formic acid dehydrogenation (FADH) is a highly potent strategy for industrial-scale H<sub>2<\/sub> production at near-ambient <em>P<\/em> and <em>T<\/em>; thus, development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts capable of promoting FADH is a forward-looking challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a molecular surface-engineering approach to tailor anatase-TiO<sub>2<\/sub> quantum dots (TiO<sub>2<\/sub>-QDs) through covalent grafting of phosphonate ligands, bearing either imidazolium (Im) or diphenylphosphine (Phos) functionalities. Controlled surface functionalization was achieved <em>via<\/em> phosphonate anchoring, using either hydrothermal or microwave-assisted grafting, enabling tuning of the organic\u2013inorganic interface. Beyond serving as surface modifiers, the phosphonate ligands regulate the local chemical environment of TiO<sub>2<\/sub> by modifying the interfacial electronic structure and the distribution of catalytically accessible surface sites. Using Fe(ii) as the metal catalytic center, the optimized TiO<sub>2<\/sub>-QD-Phos\/Fe hybrid catalyst achieves H<sub>2<\/sub> production\/FADH performance with TON = 4580 and TOF = 3915 h<sup>\u22121<\/sup>. Spectroscopic and structural data allow comprehension of the roles of TiO<sub>2<\/sub>-QDs, grafting methodology, and ligand functionality as the key factors that dictate structure\u2013activity relationships. Catalytic H<sub>2<\/sub> production performance of TiO<sub>2<\/sub>-QD-Phos\/Fe and TiO<sub>2<\/sub>-QD-Im\/Fe originates from a synergistic interplay between TiO<sub>2<\/sub> surface chemistry and the molecular architecture of the grafted phosphonate ligands. The present work establishes phosphonate ligand engineering as a versatile strategy for controlling oxide surface reactivity and provides a general design platform for developing high-performance heterogeneous catalysts for H<sub>2<\/sub> generation from liquid organic hydrogen carriers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christos Dimitriou, Christos Gkatziouras, Elodie Gioan, Maria Louloudi, Johan G. Alauzun, Yiannis Deligiannakis https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/ta\/article\/doi\/10.1039\/d6ta06531g\/1374897\/Phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-TiO2-quantum Formic acid dehydrogenation (FADH) is a highly potent strategy for industrial-scale H2 production at near-ambient P and T; thus, development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts capable of promoting FADH is a forward-looking challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a molecular surface-engineering approach to tailor &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/phosphonate-surface-engineering-of-tio2-quantum-dots-for-highly-efficient-formic-acid-dehydrogenation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Phosphonate surface engineering of TiO2 quantum dots for highly efficient formic acid dehydrogenation<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1740,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions\/1740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysis.chem.uoi.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}