Au Modified F-TiO(2) for Efficient Photocatalytic Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide

In this work, Au-modified F-TiO(2) is developed as a simple and efficient photocatalyst for H(2)O(2) production under ultraviolet light. The Au/F-TiO(2) photocatalyst avoids the necessity of adding fluoride into the reaction medium for enhancing H(2)O(2) synthesis, as in a pure TiO(2) reaction system. The F(−) modification inhibits the H(2)O(2) decomposition through the formation of the ≡Ti–F complex. Au is an active cocatalyst for photocatalytic H(2)O(2) production. We compared the activity of TiO(2) with F(−) modification and without F(−) modification in the presence of Au, and found that the H(2)O(2) production rate over Au/F-TiO(2) reaches four times that of Au/TiO(2). In situ electron spin resonance studies have shown that H(2)O(2) is produced by stepwise single-electron oxygen reduction on the Au/F-TiO(2) photocatalyst.