Open AccessStructure sensitive photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes over TiO 2
Author(s) -
Swapna Challagulla,
Kartick Tarafder,
Ramakrishnan Ganesan,
Sounak Roy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-08599-2
Subject(s) - anatase , rutile , photocatalysis , materials science , heterojunction , conduction band , chemical engineering , phase (matter) , catalysis , adsorption , degradation (telecommunications) , electron , photochemistry , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , telecommunications
It is a subject of exploration whether the phase pure anatase or rutile TiO 2 or the band alignment due to the heterojunctions in the two polymorphs of TiO 2 plays the determining role in efficacy of a photocatalytic reaction. In this work, the phase pure anatase and rutile TiO 2 have been explored for photocatalytic nitroarenes reduction to understand the role of surface structures and band alignment towards the reduction mechanism. The conduction band of synthesized anatase TiO 2 has been found to be more populated with electrons of higher energy than that of synthesized rutile. This has given the anatase an edge towards photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes over rutile TiO 2 . The other factors like adsorption of the reactants and the proton generation did not play any decisive role in catalytic efficacy.