Rational design of nitrogen and carbon co-decorated mesoporous TiO2 composites for photocatalytic selective oxidation of alcohols

Abstract

Photocatalytic organic synthesis has attracted much attention in recent years. Herein, a N and C co-decorated mesoporous TiO2 (mp-NCT) photocatalyst was synthesized for selective oxidation of alcohols. Notably, the as-prepared mp-NCT composites possess large specific surface areas and mesoporous structures, which could provide sufficient active sites and improve mass transfer. Furthermore, the co-doping of N and C species could not only extend the light absorption, but also tune the valence band of TiO2. Meanwhile, numerous oxygen vacancies and intra-band could be introduced, which helps to reduce the combination of the photogenerated carriers. As a result, the mp-NCT composites show excellent photocatalytic performance towards selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol and its derivatives to corresponding aldehydes under simulated sunlight irradiation. Mechanism studies revealed that the photogenerated electrons, holes and high dynamic equilibrium concentration of O2•- radicals were responsible for the efficient conversion of alcohols to aldehydes.