Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 81: Heterogeneous Catalysis III
O 81.3: Talk
Thursday, March 20, 2025, 11:00–11:15, H6
Mechanistic Probes for Photocatalysis: Gas Phase Reactions of Tertiary Alcohols on Titania in a Micro-Photoreactor — •Martin Tschurl1, Clara Aletsee1, Paula Neumann1, Ib Chorkendorff2, and Ueli Heiz1 — 1Chair of Physical Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences & Catalysis Research Center, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85748 Garching, Germany — 2SurfCat Section for Surface Physics and Catalysis, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
The lack in mechanistic understanding still hinders the rational design of efficient photocatalyst for various applications. To gain more comprehensive insights into the fundamental effects in photocatalysis, we analyze the gas phase photoreactions of tertiary alcohols on titania powder in a micro-photoreactor in a well-defined environment under the exclusion of oxygen. The parallels of the observed reaction properties to studies performed on a rutile single crystal in vacuum suggest similar mechanistics, which is in contrast to the generally assumed reaction model under such conditions. Furthermore, the time resolution of the micro-reactor setup allows the determination of the alcohol surface coverage, which excludes the existence of liquid films and evidences a gas phase reaction. In addition to the scientific insights on photocatalysis on titania, these results demonstrate the use of tertiary alcohols as suitable probe reactants for mechanistic studies.
Keywords: photocatalysis; titania; alcohols; ambient pressure; micro-reactor