The
critical factors in choosing the reaction pathway for photocatalysis
are often unclear. In this study, for a typical Ag–TiO2 photocatalyst, the control factors of partial and complete
oxidation of ethanol were investigated using kinetics, UV–visible
and emission spectroscopy, and silver K-edge extended X-ray absorption
fine structure. Low concentrations of O2-derived intermediate
species that were not detected by curve-fitting analysis could be
monitored under the photocatalytic conditions based on the local temperature
of Ag sites provided by the Debye–Waller factor and the correlated
Debye model. The site temperature monitoring was extended to Ag nanoparticles
growing from 0.5 to 3.6 nm under photocatalytic reaction conditions.
The Ag site temperature reached 404 K under reductive conditions to
dehydrogenate ethanol into acetaldehyde, whereas it was 363–368
K under oxidative conditions owing to O2-derived species
forming CO2, CH4, and H2O to suppress
localized surface plasmon resonance. Under UV light, partial ethanol
oxidation to acetaldehyde and O2 activation for complete
oxidation to CO2 and H2O proceeded over TiO2. However, under visible light, the C–C bond cleavage
to CO2 and CH4 and complete oxidation to CO2 and H2O combined with the O2-derived
species transferred from the TiO2 surface proceeded over
Ag0 nanoparticles.