Developing nanostructured composite of titanium dioxide and poly(triazine imide) for selective photooxidation

Abstract

Pristine semiconductors are rarely suggested as efficient heterogenous photocatalysts, as they exhibit low efficiency, due to high recombination rate and narrow adsorption spectrum. Instead, various composites are proposed where intimate contact between two phases creates heterojunction, that improves photoactivity. In this report, we disclose a stepwise development of a grain-based hierarchical structure of photoactive composite based on anatase and poly(triazine imide) (PTI). This nanocomposite was efficient in benzyl alcohol (BA) oxidation and provided targeted benzaldehyde (BAl) with 94 % selectivity at 100 % conversion.