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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

November 6, 2012

Speaker:  Donald McGillivray, Materials Science MSc candidate, Ontario Tech University

Title: Synthesis of TiO2/CNTs Photocatalysts Using Supercritical CO2

Abstract:  In this work titanium dioxide nanoparticles and rods were synthesized using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) as the reaction medium. The syntheses were carried out in a high pressure system and ow cell designed and constructed for these studies. The system can reach temperatures and pressures well above the critical temperature and pressure of CO2, 31oC and 76.4 bars, respectively. TiO2 particles with different degree of crytallinity and morphology have been synthesized using acetic acid and titanium isopropoxide as precursors at pressures and temperatures up to 220 bars and 150oC, respectively. Materials were characterized using a number of analytical methods (XRD, TGA, SEM, Raman, and FTIR). Methylene blue was used to investigate the photocatalytic activity under UV irradiation and the results were compared with those obtained for two other commercial materials, Degussa P25 and anatase (25 nm) from Sigma-Aldrich. Future work will be also discussed.