Primary intermediates of oxygen photoevolution reaction on TiO2 (rutile) particles, revealed by in situ FTIR absorption and photoluminescence measurements

Primary intermediates of oxygen photoevolution (water photooxidation) reaction at the TiO2 (rutile)/ aqueous solution interface were investigated by in situ multiple internal reflection infrared (MIRIR) absorption and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. UV irradiation of TiO2 in the presence of 10 mM Fe3+ in the solution caused the appearance of a new peak at 838 cm(-1) and a shoulder at 812 cm(-1). Detailed investigations of the effects of solution pH, the presence of methanol as a hole scavenger, and isotope exchange in water ((H2O)-O-16-(H2O)-O-18) on the spectra have shown that the 838- and 812-cm(-1) bands can be assigned to the O-O stretching mode of surface TiOOH and TiOOTi, respectively, produced as primary intermediates of the oxygen photoevolution reaction. The results give strong support to our previously proposed mechanism that the oxygen photoevolution is initiated by a nucleophilic attack of a H2O molecule on a photogenerated hole at a surface lattice O site, not by oxidation of surface OH group by the hole. The conclusion is supported by PL measurements. A plausible reaction scheme is proposed for the oxygen photoevolution on TiO2 (rutile) in aqueous solutions of pH less than about 12.