Abstract
Heterogeneous photocatalysis under visible light irradiation allows performing of selective oxofunctionalization of hydrocarbons at ambient temperature and pressure, using molecular oxygen as a sacrificial reagent and potential use of sunlight as a sustainable and low-cost energy source. In the present work, a photocatalytic material based on heterojunction of titanium dioxide and bismuth oxyiodide was used as photocatalyst on selective oxofunctionalization of cyclohexane and benzyl alcohol. The selective oxidation reactions were performed in a homemade photoreactor equipped with a metal halide lamp and injected air as a source of molecular oxygen. The identified oxidized products obtained from oxofunctionalization of cyclohexane were cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. On the other hand, the product obtained from oxofunctionalization of benzyl alcohol was benzaldehyde. The yield obtained with BiOI/TiO2 photocatalysts was higher than that obtained with pure bismuth oxyiodide. The higher performance of this material with respect to pure BiOI was attributed to its higher specific area.
Highlights
Heterogeneous photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) that allows the use of light as the driving energy to perform chemical transformations
Due to the broad forbidden energy band of titanium dioxide (3.2 eV), this material can only be activated by electromagnetic radiation (λ < 387 nm), which limits their use in photocatalytic processes under visible light
Catalysts 2022, 12, 318 (JCPDS) Card No 4-477, corresponding to the anatase phase of ti3toafn16ium dio fraction peaks of the bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) photocatalyst sample (Figu indexed to the tetragonal phases of Bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) (JCPDS Card No 73-2062)
Summary
Heterogeneous photocatalysis is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) that allows the use of light as the driving energy to perform chemical transformations. The energy of photon irradiated over semiconductor material promotes a photoelectron from the valence band to the conduction band, generating a photohole–photoelectron pair [1]. The generated photohole and photoelectron have oxidizing and reducing properties, respectively. These species in the presence of water and oxygen can generate radical hydroxyl, hydrogen peroxide and other reactive oxygen species. Among the semiconductor materials with photocatalytic activity, titanium dioxide is one of the most widely used due to its stability, photoreactivity, low cost and non-toxicity [1]. Due to the broad forbidden energy band of titanium dioxide (3.2 eV), this material can only be activated by electromagnetic radiation (λ < 387 nm), which limits their use in photocatalytic processes under visible light. Since less than 5% of the solar radiation incident on the earth’s surface corresponds to the ultraviolet region, many efforts have been focused on the development of new semiconductor materials for photocatalytic applications for an efficient application of solar radiation as an energy source in photocatalytic processes [2]
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