V. R. Pal Verneker

Bio: V. R. Pal Verneker is an academic researcher from Colorado State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Aqueous solution & Oxide. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 185 citations. Previous affiliations of V. R. Pal Verneker include Indian Institute of Science.

Mechanism of photocatalytic water splitting in TiO2. Reaction of water with photoholes, importance of charge carrier dynamics, and evidence for four-hole chemistry.

Abstract: We show for the first time that the photogenerated hole lifetime in TiO2 is a strong determinant of the ability of TiO2 to split water. Hole lifetimes were measured using transient absorption spectroscopy over a range of excitation intensities. The lifetimes of the holes were modulated by the use of exogenous scavengers and were also found to vary systematically with the excitation intensity. In all cases the quantum yield of oxygen production is found to be linked to the light intensity used, ranging from below 1 sun equivalent to nearly 1 sun equivalent. We also provide evidence that oxygen production requires four photons for each molecule of oxygen, which is reminiscent of the natural photosynthetic water-splitting mechanism. This in turn suggests a mechanism for oxygen production which requires four-hole chemistry, presumably via three, as yet unidentified intermediates. It is also shown that at excitation densities on the order of 1 sun, nongeminate electron−hole recombination limits the quantum yie...

Synergism between rutile and anatase TiO2 particles in photocatalytic oxidation of naphthalene

Abstract: Photocatalytic oxidation of naphthalene was investigated in a mixed solution of acetonitrile and water using various kinds of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) powders as the photocatalysts and molecular oxygen as the electron acceptor. The main product from naphthalene is 2-formylcinnamaldehyde. For this reaction, anatase small TiO 2 particles, which are commonly used as photocatalyst, are inactive, probably because band bending is necessary for the oxidation of naphthalene. If the particles are not extremely small, pure rutile and pure anatase powders show fairly high activity, and those containing both anatase and rutile phases show the highest activity. When a pure anatase powder is partly (about 90%) converted to the rutile form by heat treatment, the activity is largely enhanced. The activity of pure rutile particles is also enhanced by physically mixing them with a small amount of small-sized anatase particles, which are inactive for this reaction. These results can be explained by the synergism between rutile and anatase particles. We consider that electrons are transferred from rutile particles to anatase particles, i.e. naphthalene is mainly oxidized on rutile particles and oxygen is mainly reduced on anatase particles. This electron transfer process is supported by electrochemical properties of TiO 2 electrodes for reduction of oxygen.