Mechanism of enhanced photocatalysis with polyhydroxy fullerenes

Polyhydroxy fullerenes (PHF) have been applied for increasing the photocatalytic degradation rate of TiO₂. Scavenging of photo-generated electrons and therefore higher generation of hydroxyl radicals was hypothesized as the mechanism for the observed enhancement. The present study confirms the increase in generation of hydroxyl radicals with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The concentration of hydroxyl radicals generated by a mixture of TiO₂ and PHF was up to 60% greater than the concentration obtained without PHF. These results are consistent with the observed enhancement in dye degradation and microbial inactivation experiments. The current study also demonstrates that PHF can improve the photocatalytic activity of different TiO₂.