Evidence on C-C Coupling to Acetate as Key Reaction Intermediate in Photocatalytic Reduction of CO over Pt/TiO.

Photocatalytic conversion of CO with HO is an attractive application that has the potential to mitigate environmental and energy challenges through the conversion of CO to hydrocarbon products such as methane. However, the underlying reaction mechanisms remain poorly understood, limiting real progress in this field. In this work, a mechanistic investigation of the CO photocatalytic reduction on Pt/TiO is carried out using an operando FTIR approach, combined with chemometric data processing and isotope exchange of (CO + HO) toward (CO + HO).