Photocatalytic water oxidation by a pyrochlore oxide upon irradiation with visible light: rhodium substitution into yttrium titanate.

A stable visible-light-driven photocatalyst (λ≥450 nm) for water oxidation is reported. Rhodium substitution into the pyrochlore Y2 Ti2 O7 is demonstrated by monitoring Vegard's law evolution of the unit-cell parameters with changing rhodium content, to a maximum content of 3 % dopant. Substitution renders the solid solutions visible-light active. The overall rate of oxygen evolution is comparable to WO3 but with superior light-harvesting and surface-area-normalized turnover rates, making Y2 Ti1.94 Rh0.06 O7 an excellent candidate for use in a Z-scheme water-splitting system.

Room temperature oxidation of methyl orange and methanol over Pt-HCa2Nb3O10 and Pt-WO3 catalysts without light.

The layered semiconductor Pt-HCa(2)Nb(3)O(10) can catalyze room temperature air oxidation of methyl orange. It is also more effective than Pt-WO(3) in catalyzing reaction of methanol with air. Pt-HCa(2)Nb(3)O(10) could find wide application as a mild oxidizing catalyst.

Visible light photo-oxidation of model pollutants using CaCu3Ti4O12: an experimental and theoretical study of optical properties, electronic structure, and selectivity.

Charge transfer between metal ions occupying distinct crystallographic sublattices in an ordered material is a strategy to confer visible light absorption on complex oxides to generate potentially catalytically active electron and hole charge carriers. CaCu3Ti4O12 has distinct octahedral Ti4+ and square planar Cu2+ sites and is thus a candidate material for this approach. The sol−gel synthesis of high surface area CaCu3Ti4O12 and investigation of its optical absorption and photocatalytic reactivity with model pollutants are reported. Two gaps of 2.21 and 1.39 eV are observed in the visible region. These absorptions are explained by LSDA+U electronic structure calculations, including electron correlation on the Cu sites, as arising from transitions from a Cu-hybridized O 2p-derived valence band to localized empty states on Cu (attributed to the isolation of CuO4 units within the structure of CaCu3Ti4O12) and to a Ti-based conduction band. The resulting charge carriers produce selective visible light photodegradation of 4-chlorophenol (monitored by mass spectrometry) by Pt-loaded CaCu3Ti4O12 which is attributed to the chemical nature of the photogenerated charge carriers and has a quantum yield comparable with commercial visible light photocatalysts.