Novel photocatalytic applications of sub-nanometer gold particles for environmental liquid and gas phase reactions

Ultra small sub-1 nm gold nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and deposited on TiO2 support. They exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic activity for both liquid and gas phase oxidation reactions, which have a significant potential for environmental applications. The NO2 conversion on such catalysts was 6 times higher as compared to that of unmodified catalysts. This is the first ever application of such small clusters for environmental photocatalysis. The presence of sub-1 nm clusters was confirmed by TEM, MALDI-TOF MS and UV–vis spectroscopy. This work also included the novel use of modified DRIFT spectroscopy for photocatalytic testing as well improvement of known Au clusters synthesis procedures.

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► In this study we first ever demonstrate the application of sub-1 nm gold particles for both gas and liquid photocatalysis.
► We explore an advanced method of testing based on DRIFTS modified with UV fiber as well as improved method of Au synthesis.
► Our catalysts exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic activity, which was much higher than one of the most active photocatalysts such as P25 TiO2.