Rational Design of a Unique Ternary Structure for Highly Photocatalytic Nitrobenzene Reduction

The rational design and controllable synthesis of TiO2 and noble metal composite photocatalysts represent an unprecedented challenge for developing the solar-driven reduction of nitrobenzene (NB) to aminobenzene (AB), owing to the recombination over the interface between the noble metals and TiO2, which is harmful to the conversion efficiency of NB to AB. Here, we design a unique ternary structure (the high separation of TiO2 and Pt nanoparticles on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)) through the sol gel and microwave-assisted strategies. The substrate of RGO can be used as an "electric wire" to effectively transfer the photogenerated electrons from the isolated TiO2 nanocrystals to the isolated Pt nanoparticles, which greatly decreases the interface recombination between TiO2 and Pt and further improves the conversion efficiency of NB to AB under the-solar light irradiation. We anticipate our research provides a new way to overcome the interface recombination on the binary photocatalysts in the photocatalytic reaction.