Solvent Effects on Photocatalytic Anaerobic Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol over Pt-Loaded Defective SrTiO₃ Nanoparticles

Abstract

Photocatalytic selective oxidation of alcohols under mild conditions is an emerging technique to encounter the global challenges of energy source shortages and the green synthesis perspective. Herein, we investigate the solvent effects on heterogeneous photocatalytic anaerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol with Pt-loaded defective SrTiO 3 nanoparticles. It is found that the optimal solvent is water mixed with a small amount of dimethylformamide (DMF) or acetonitrile, while the solvent effects on the oxidation of benzyl alcohol are related to the adsorption of benzyl alcohol and benzaldehyde on the photocatalysts in different solvents, in which the adsorption of benzyl alcohol plays a major role, while such positive effect can be significantly offset in case the adsorption of benzaldehyde is leading the effort. This work offers the avenue to improve the photocatalytic oxidation of alcohols by optimizing the reaction solvents in addition to the well-known structure engineering of the photocatalysts.

Fabrication of Mn-Doped SrTiO3/Carbon Fiber with Oxygen Vacancy for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

“…Ion doping is considered to be an effective method to improve the photocatalytic property of SrTiO 3 . Common metal ions doped include Pt, Ag, Au, Ru, Pd, Cu, Al, Mn, and so on [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Mn-doped SrTiO 3 photocatalytic materials can reduce the band gap, while the preparation technology is mature and has been well developed and applied in the field of photocatalysis and widely used in the fields of photocatalytic degradation and photocatalytic water splitting hydrogen production [13,15,16].…”

Configuration Effect of Plasmonic Vanadium–Titanium Solid Solutions for Photo-oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol

“…, or Cl 2 ), causing serious environmental concerns. 7,8 As a result, photocatalysis has emerged as one of the most energy-efficient and effective green environmental technologies for selective oxidation. Additionally, TiO 2 -based nanomaterials have been experimentally proven to be effective catalysts for accelerating BA conversion and BAD-selectivity.…”

Tunable Selectivity of Photocatalytic Benzyl Alcohol Transformation over Ag-Ion-Exchanged CdS Nanowires

“…The deposition of secondary components such as cocatalysts and heterojunction formation allow the photoreforming selectivity to be tuned to favor the generation of aldehydes or C–C coupling products. Numerous types of photocatalysis have been developed for the highly selective formation of aldehydes, with recent high-efficiency photocatalysts achieving selectivity of ≥90%. − The hydrogen generated when photocatalysts are used for benzyl alcohol conversion is also favorable; for example, Hao et al developed nickel-sulfide-decorated zinc sulfide nanorods for the photocatalytic transformation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde coupled with H 2 evolution …”

“…Numerous studies have confirmed that the oxidative ability of the catalyst is primarily enhanced via the use of cocatalyst systems, which improve transformation efficiency and selectivity. − …”