Photocatalytic formation of H2 and value-added chemicals in aqueous glucose (Pt)-TiO2 suspension

Commercial and home prepared bare and Pt-supported TiO2 samples were used as the photocatalysts for the aqueous photo-conversion of glucose at ambient pressure and temperature. Aerobic and anaerobic conditions were used to study the products of glucose degradation both in the liquid (arabinose, erythrose, gluconic acid, glucaric acid, fructose and formic acid) and gaseous (H2 and CO2) phases. The distribution of these molecules was different in the presence of the various powders, depending on the structural and physico-chemical properties of the materials, and Pt resulted essential for the anaerobic production of H2. The home prepared samples resulted more active than the commercial ones. The rutile and brookite polymorphs were the most active samples both for glucose conversion and H2 formation (about 1700 μmol of H2 were produced over 7 h of irradiation in the presence of Pt-brookite materials).