Environmental Research · 2012 · 26 citations · 0 references
A binary component catalyst consists of single atoms (SAs- Pt and Au) anchored on self-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotubes (TNTs), was developed for photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction. The defects introduced TNTs substrate was stabilized with atomic Pt and Au via strong metal support interactions (MSI), due to which, the covalent interactions facilitated an effective transfer of photo-generated electrons from the defective sites to the SAs, and in turn an enhanced separation of electron-hole pairs and charge-carrier transmission. The Pt-Au/R-TNTs with 0.33 wt% of SA metals, exhibited a maximum of 149 times higher photocatalytic performance than unmodified R-TNT and a total apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 17.9%, in which the yield of CH<sub>4</sub> and C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub> reached to 360.0 and 28.8 μmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. The metals loading shifted the oxidation path of H<sub>2</sub>O from •OH generation into O<sub>2</sub> evolution, that inhibited the self-oxidization of the photocatalyst.