Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Dehydrogenation of Alcohols on TiO₂ via Ligand-to-Metal Charge Transfer for Coproduction of H₂ and Aldehydes

Developing visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the catalytic dehydrogenation of organics is of great significance for sustainable solar energy utilization. Here, we first report that aromatic alcohols could be efficiently split into H 2 and aldehydes over TiO 2 under visible-light irradiation through a ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) mechanism. A series of TiO 2 catalysts with different surface contents of the hydroxyl group (−OH) have been synthesized by controlling the hydrothermal and calcination synthesis methods. An optimal H 2 production rate of 18.6 μmol h –1 is obtained on TiO 2 synthesized from the hydrothermal method with a high content of surface −OH. Experimental characterizations and comparison studies reveal that the surface −OH markedly influences the formation of LMCT complexes and thus changes the visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance. This work is anticipated to inspire further research endeavors in the design and fabrication of visible-light-driven photocatalyst systems based on the LMCT mechanism to realize the simultaneous synthesis of clean fuel and fine chemicals.