Photosensitization of crystalline and amorphous titanium dioxide by platinum(IV) chloride surface complexes

Anatase, rutile, and amorphous titania powders were surface-modified by grinding with PtCl4 and H2[PtCl6]. Only the anatase modification afforded hybrid photocatalysts capable of degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) with visible light, with sufficient stability towards decomplexation. Grinding with K2[PtCl4] produced materials of only low photocatalytic activity. Most efficient photocatalysts contained up to 2 wt% of PtIV. At higher surface loading the excess fraction of the complex is desorbed into the aqueous solution. Scavenging experiments with benzoic acid and tetranitromethane revealed that hydroxyl radicals are produced by the primary reduction of oxygen by conduction band electrons generated through electron injection from a postulated surface platinum(III) complex. It is proposed that the latter is formed from a charge-transfer ligand-to-metal (CTLM) excited state through homolysis of the Pt-Cl bond. Accordingly. the primary oxidation of 4-CP may occur by adsorbed chlorine atoms, the intermediary existence of which was demonstrated by scavenging experiments with phenol.