Selective oxidation of sulfides on Pt/BiVO4 photocatalyst under visible light irradiation using water as the oxygen source and dioxygen as the electron acceptor

• Sulfides were oxidized into sulfoxides with high selectivity (up to 99%) on Pt/BiVO4 photocatalyst in water.
• The system showed more excellent performance in water than in organic solvent.
• The reactive oxygen species generated from water determined the selectivity.
• Dioxygen was reduced to water through proton-coupled electron transfer.

Photocatalytic selective oxidation represents an environment-friendly strategy for chemical transformation. Herein, we report the oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides with high selectivity (up to 99%) on Pt/BiVO4 photocatalyst in water under visible light illumination. The system exhibited excellent performance for the oxidation of sulfides in water compared with organic solvents. Isotopic oxygen (H218O) experiments clearly revealed that the oxygen atoms in the sulfoxide were mainly from water. Electron paramagnetic resonance demonstrated that the reactive oxygen species were the peroxy species, which were generated from water oxidation on BiVO4 via the two-electron pathway. Dioxygen was reduced to water through proton-coupled electron transfer.

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