Nitric oxide (NO) is known to degrade
to nitric acid
(HNO3) on anatase TiO2 facets under visible
light irradiation
in the presence of water. However, the exact role that water plays
in this photoreaction is not fully understood. By employing the density
functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional tight
binding (TD-DFTB), we show the viability of two suggested degradation
pathways involving water. Both reaction pathways are triggered by
a charge transfer excitation from the NO molecule to the TiO2 surface. In one of them, NO interacts with dissociated water molecules
adsorbed on the surface to form HONO+, whereas for the
second pathway, NO is oxidized to NO2
+ by capturing
one oxygen atom from the substrate. Both HONO and NO2 are
known byproducts in the photodegradation of NO, which further react
with adsorbed water to finally produce HNO3. We also demonstrate
by means of nudged elastic band calculations that these reactions
are unlikely to happen without illumination.