Molecular and dissociative methanol adsorption species were prepared on rutile TiO2(110) surfaces to study photocatalytic oxidation of methanol in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Adsorbed methoxy groups (CH3O-) were found to be the photoactive form of adsorbed methanol converted to adsorbed formaldehyde and a surface OH group by hole-mediated C-H bond cleavage. These results suggest that adsorbed methoxy is the effective hole scavenger in photochemical reactions involving methanol. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy.
Revised: November 28, 2011 |
Published: November 3, 2011
Citation
Shen M., and M.A. Henderson. 2011.Identification of the Active Species in Photochemical Hole Scavenging Reactions of Methanol on TiO2.The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2, no. 21:2707-2710.PNNL-SA-82607.doi:10.1021/jz201242k