Efficient heterogeneous photochemical reactions are of critical importance in storing solar energy in chemical bonds.  Transition metal oxides are a key class of materials for many oxidation and reduction processes.  We have used a combination of theory and experiment to understand the photochemical oxidation of methanol on titania.  Experimental studies on rutile TiO<sub>2</sub>(110) were used to establish a molecular level mechanism for the methanol oxidation.  Studies of titania nanowires also exhibited similar photochemical behavior.  A combination of imaging (STM and SEM), spectroscopy (XPS, PLS, and Raman) and reactivity measurements were used.  Time-dependent density functional theory methods were used to map out the evolution of the excited state in this process.  These studies established a fundamental approach to understanding and predicting heterogeneous photochemistry induced by metal oxides.  Studies are currently underway on Fe2O3 single crystals to generalize our approach.<br/>

Heterogeneous photochemical processes on metal oxides

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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