Enhancing the catalytic oxidation capacity of Pt/TiO2 using a light pre-treatment approach

- Light pre-treatment of Pt/TiO2 enhances formic acid catalytic oxidation rate.
- The improved activity decays gradually with time - over the order of hours.
- The enhancement can be fully recovered upon re-illumination.
- The Pt deposits are partially oxidised during the reaction.
- Photogenerated electrons are captured and held by O2 adsorbed on the Pt deposits.