The effect of DMPO on the formation of hydroxyl radicals on the rutile TiO2(110) surface

Abstract

Unraveling the formation mechanism of hydroxyl radicals (OH˙) is one of the outstanding issues in photocatalytic reactions, where 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) is widely utilized as a trapping agent to detect OH˙ radicals in experiments. In this study, we carry out density functional theory calculations to reveal the origin and formation process of OH˙ radicals by investigating the interaction of water with DMPO on a rutile TiO₂(110) surface. Our results clearly show that the OH˙ radicals trapped by DMPO stem from water upon illumination. The charge compensation mechanism dominates the formation of DMPO–OH from the reaction between DMPO and water on the rutile TiO₂(110) surface. These findings provide new insights into the photocatalytic mechanism and may achieve new frontiers in photocatalytic research.