Fig. 5: Mechanistic studies of photocatalytic ethylene dihydroxylation.
From: Photocatalytic dihydroxylation of light olefins to glycols by water
a in situ EPR spectra of different samples under simulated reaction conditions with or without light irradiation. b EG production comparison between different catalysts under designated conditions. Inset image shows the correlation between EG production of different catalysts with their •OH concentration as probed by EPR analysis. c in situ FT-IR spectra of (Pd/NPW)/TiO2 under simulated reaction conditions with or without light irradiation. d Proposed reaction mechanism over a simplified catalyst model with TiO2 support and NPW stabilized Pd clusters. e Reaction energy diagram related to ethylene (E) transformation into ethylene glycol (EG) at metallic Pd (111) surface (in blue) and NPW embedded Pd cluster (Pd2.NPW) (in orange), with related reaction energies in eV (ΔE). “E*” and “EG*” represent adsorbed ethylene and ethylene glycol, respectively. E* and EG* ball and stick models are represented in their most stable adsorption mode at Pd (111) and Pd2.NPW. Color code: light gray Pd, dark gray W, red O, pink H, brown C.
