Hybridizing strategy of decatungstate by Au nanoparticles for enhanced photo-catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons by dioxygens

Decatungstate (DT) is very potential photo-catalyst for the dioxygens (O-2)-based selective oxidation but still needs to be improved in photo-catalytic efficiency and regeneration. This paper discloses that Au nanoparticles (NPs)-loaded DT (Au/DT) is conveniently synthesized via the reduction of chloroauric acids introduced in the synthesis of DT. A series of characterizations and quenching tests support that the doped Au NPs can remarkably improve the visible-light- harvesting and photo-excited quantum efficiencies of DT, and as the excellent electronic transport carriers, they also plays an additional role in converting O-2 into the active superoxide (center dot O-2(-)) anion radical. As a result, the suggested Au/DT exhibits a significantly enhanced photo-catalytic efficiency for the visible-light-triggered selective oxidation of inert hydrocarbons under 25-28 degrees C and 1 atm pure O-2 atmosphere. Under optimized conditions, the best 1%Au/DT achieves 64.2% conversion and 93% acetophenone selectivity in the photo-oxidation of ethylbenzene and it has an outstanding regeneration ability.