Selective photoelectrochemical oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid by single atom Pt decorated defective TiO2

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical reaction is emerging as a powerful approach for biomass conversion. However, it has been rarely explored for glucose conversion into value-added chemicals. Here we develop a photoelectrochemical approach for selective oxidation of glucose to high value-added glucaric acid by using single-atom Pt anchored on defective TiO₂ nanorod arrays as photoanode. The defective structure induced by the oxygen vacancies can modulate the charge carrier dynamics and band structure, simultaneously. With optimized oxygen vacancies, the defective TiO₂ photoanode shows greatly improved charge separation and significantly enhanced selectivity and yield of C₆ products. By decorating single-atom Pt on the defective TiO₂ photoanode, selective oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid can be achieved. In this work, defective TiO₂ with single-atom Pt achieves a photocurrent density of 1.91 mA cm⁻² for glucose oxidation at 0.6 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, leading to an 84.3 % yield of glucaric acid under simulated sunlight irradiation.

Photoelectrochemical oxidation provides a promising strategy for glucaric acid production. Here, selective oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid is realized on the photoanode of defective TiO2 decorated with single-atom Pt via a photoelectrochemical strategy.