We report the efficient production of formic acid through simultaneous photoreduction of bicarbonate and oxidation of glycerol in the presence of gold-TiO2 composite. Under solar light (solar simulator, AM 1.5 filter) the productivity of formate was 0.9 mmol/g cat-hr using TiO2 alone. The yield of formate was remarkably enhanced (7 mmol/g cat-hr) by combining plasmonic gold nanoparticles with TiO2. It was found that in the photocatalytic reaction, glycerol not only serves as an efficient hole sinks but also the oxidation of glycerol may produce additional formic acid further enhancing the overall productivity. When illuminated with 365 nm photon with energy sufficient to excite valence band to conduction band electronic transitions in the TiO2, the productivity of TiO2 alone dramatically improves in comparison to solar light. However, no effect of gold nanoparticles was observed under 365 nm irradiation. The improvement in product yield under solar light is attributed to the synergistic effect of strong plasmonic properties of gold nanoparticles in the visible wavelength range and superior hole scavenging activities of glycerol from gold-TiO2 composite surface.

Efficient photoreduction of bicarbonate to formate catalyzed by gold-TiO2 composite nanocatalyst under solar irradiation

256th National Meeting (2018)

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