Photocatalytic oxidation of CO on TiO(2): chemisorption of O(2), CO, and H(2).

On the surface: Adsorption of O(2) at the surface oxygen vacancy (SOV) sites of TiO(2) reconstructs the lattice oxygen (healing SOVs), resulting in a decrease of the photocatalytic activity of oxidizing CO over vacuum-pretreated TiO(2) with increasing temperature (see scheme). Adsorption of H(2) produces new SOVs at the TiO(2) surface and stabilizes the photocatalytic activity. Photocatalytic oxidation of CO over vacuum-pretreated TiO(2) is performed in a series of systems with the introduction of O(2), CO, and H(2) in different orders. The photocatalytic oxidation of CO is dependent on the order of introduction of O(2), CO, or H(2), and introducing O(2) prior to CO promotes the oxidation of CO. Moreover, an increase of reaction temperature suppresses the oxidation of CO, but the preintroduction of H(2) reduces this suppression effect. The results of the chemisorption of O(2), CO, and H(2) at the TiO(2) surface reveal that the adsorbed O(2) heals the surface oxygen vacancy (SOV) sites of TiO(2), while the adsorbed CO and H(2) promote the formation of new SOVs. It is proposed that changes in the amounts of adsorbed O(2) and SOVs are mainly responsible for the differences of CO conversion in different systems.