TiO2/Ti3C2 as an efficient photocatalyst for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde

Photocatalytic selective oxidation of alcohols into corresponding aldehydes has received enormous attention. However, it remains a great challenge to explore photocatalysts with high conversion efficiency and selectivity. Herein, we developed a composite consisted of TiO 2 and Ti 3 C 2 through a simple calcination of Ti 3 C 2 nanosheets. It was found that Ti 3 C 2 could stabilize the oxygen vacancies and Ti 3+ species in the TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 composite, which could subsequent promote the production of active intermediates during the photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BA) to benzaldehyde (BAD). Additionally, the valence band of TiO 2 in the composites was found to be up-shifted, which would avoid the further oxidation of BAD and enhance selectivity. As a result, the optimal composite exhibits the BA conversion efficiency of 97 % and BAD selectivity of 98 %, which is 2.8 and 1.2 folds higher than that of pristine TiO 2 . Our work may provide insights for designing efficient photocatalysts for selective oxidation of alcohols.