Journal
ACS CATALYSIS
Volume 6, Issue 12, Pages 8021-8029Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01833
Keywords
gold; titanium dioxide; plasmon; photoexcitation; heterogeneous catalysis; ethanol oxidation; in situ DRIFTS
Categories
Funding
- Australian Research Council (ARC) [FL140100081]
- ARC under the DECRA Fellowship Scheme [DE160100131]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Research into photoenhanced heterogeneous catalysis with Au/TiO2 has gained traction in recent years because of the potential for activity enhancement due to its localized surface plasmon resonance effects, including oxidation reactions. While others have observed and described the effects of C-C cleavage by Au/TiO2, how C-C cleavage occurs has not been reported to date. To elucidate the mechanism and to understand the fundamental impacts of visible and ultraviolet (UV) photoexcitation on the dynamics of gas phase ethanol oxidation, an in situ, quantitative diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy analysis of the surface of Au/TiO2 and neat TiO2 was performed. Key findings from the study include (i) discovery of exclusive oxalate species, a critical precursor to C-C cleavage, which is also an indicator of selective ethanol adsorption at the Au TiO2 interfacial perimeter, (ii) fortification of C-C bond cleavage by Au/TiO2 via detection of single-carbon species such as formate and carbon monoxide on Au/TiO2 in the dark under visible light illumination, (iii) validation of previous postulations regarding ethanol adsorption on TiO2 followed by oxygen activation at the Au TiO2 interfacial perimeter, and (iv) in situ re-enactment of the different impacts by bandgap photoexcitation and plasmonically mediated charge transfer, under UV and visible light illumination, respectively, on ethanol oxidation by Au/TiO2 and neat TiO2.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available