Gold-Nanoparticle-Loaded Carbonate-Modified Titanium(IV) Oxide Surface: Visible-Light-Driven Formation of Hydrogen Peroxide from Oxygen

Gold nanoparticle-loaded rutile TiO2 with a bimodal size distribution around 10.6nm and 2.3nm (BM-Au/TiO2) was prepared by the deposition precipitation and chemical reduction (DP-CR) technique. Visible-light irradiation (>430nm) of the BM-Au/TiO2 plasmonic photocatalyst yields 35m H2O2 in aerated pure water at irradiation time (t(p))=1h, and the H2O2 concentration increases to 640 +/- 60m by the addition of 4% HCOOH as a sacrificing electron donor. Further, a carbonate-modified surface BM-Au/TiO2 (BM-Au/TiO2-CO32-) generates a millimolar level of H2O2 at t(p)=1h with a quantum efficiency (phi) of 5.4% at =530nm under the same conditions. The recycle experiments confirmed the stable performance of BM-Au/TiO2.