Isolated Iridium Sites on Potassium‐Doped Carbon‐nitride wrapped Tellurium Nanostructures for Enhanced Glycerol Photooxidation

Abstract

Many industrial processes such transesterification of fatty acid for biodiesel production, soap manufacturing and biosynthesis of ethanol generate glycerol as a major by‐product that can be used to produce commodity chemicals. Photocatalytic transformation of glycerol is an enticing approach that can exclude the need of harsh oxidants and extraneous thermal energy. However, the product yield and selectivity remain poor due to low absorption and unsymmetrical site distribution on the catalyst surface. Herein, tellurium (Te) nanorods/nanosheets (TeNRs/NSs) wrapped potassium‐doped carbon nitride (KCN) van der Waal (vdW) heterojunction (TeKCN) is designed to enhance charge separation and visible‐NIR absorption. The iridium (Ir) single atom sites decoration on the TeKCN core‐shell structure (TeKCNIr) promotes selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceraldehyde with a conversion of 45.6% and selectivity of 61.6% under AM1.5G irradiation. The catalytic selectivity can reach up to 88% under 450 nm monochromatic light. X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) demonstrates the presence of undercoordinated IrN2O2 sites which improved catalytic selectivity for glycol oxidation. Band energies and computational calculations reveal faile charge transfer in the TeKCNIr heterostructure. EPR and scavenger tests discern that superoxide (O2•−) and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals are prime components driving glycerol oxidation.