Grafted iron(III) ions significantly enhance NO2 oxidation rate and selectivity of TiO2 for photocatalytic NOx abatement

Semiconductor photocatalysis could be an effective means to combat nitrogen oxides (NOx) based air pollution through mineralisation of NOx to nitrate. However, most of the typically TiO2-based catalysts employed show a much higher reactivity towards NO than NO2, leading to an accumulation of this unwanted and toxic intermediate. By grafting the photocatalyst with small amounts (<= 0.1 at%) of isolated iron(III) ions, the reactivity towards NO2 is increased by the factor of 9, bringing it up to par with the NO-reactivity and alleviating the problem with intermediate accumulation. Consequently, the observed selectivity of the reaction is dramatically increased from less than 40% to more than 90%. The paper also discusses possible mechanisms for this very beneficial behavior.