Investigation of the role of platinum oxide for the degradation of phenol under simulated solar irradiation.

The authors demonstrate that a desired oxidn. state can be achieved by synthetic colloidal methods and the choice of characterization technique is crucial for detg. the physicochem. properties that influence the photocatalytic activities. XPS studies showed that PtO2 was realized in this study, and the resultant cryst. PtO2-TiO2 prepd. by subsequent hydrothermal treatment demonstrated activity for phenol degrdn. under simulated solar light irradn. Preformed platinum based TiO2 ensures control over the oxidn. state and the crystallite size of titania. The role of Ptox in the form of stable Pt4+ is elucidated as a mild recombination center, whereas the crystallite size of Pt in surfactant free Pt0-TiO2 appears to be the overriding factor for attaining enhanced photocatalytic performance. [on SciFinder(R)]