Surface Modification of (001) Facets Dominated TiO₂ with Ozone for Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Gaseous Toluene

This study investigated the positive effect of surface modification with ozone on the photocatalytic performance of anatase TiO₂ with dominated (001) facets for toluene degradation. The performance of photocatalyst was tested on a home-made volatile organic compounds degradation system. The ozone modi cation, toluene adsorption and degradation mechanism were established by a combination of various characterization methods, in situ diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculation. The surface modi cation with ozone can significantly enhance the photocatalytic degradation performance for toluene. The abundant unsaturated coordinated 5c-Ti sites on (001) facets act as the adsorption sites for ozone. The formed Ti-O bonds reacted with H₂O to generate a large amount of isolated Ti_5c-OH which act as the adsorption sites for toluene, and thus significantly increase the adsorption capacity for toluene. The outstanding photocatalytic performance of ozone-modified TiO₂ is due to its high adsorption ability for toluene and the abundant surface hydroxyl groups, which produce very reactive OH radicals under irradiation. Furthermore, the O₂ generated via ozone dissociation could combine with the photogenerated electrons to form superoxide radicals which are also conductive to the toluene degradation.