Mechanism of photocatalytic water oxidation on small TiO₂ nanoparticles

potential energy surface. The new mechanism readily explains the observation of mobile hydroxyl radicals in recent experiments. Two key driving forces for the photo-oxidation reaction are identified: localization of the electron-hole pair and stabilization of the photohole by hydrogen bonding interaction. Our findings illustrate the scope of recent advances in NAMD methods and emphasize the importance of explicit simulation of electronic excitations.

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