{
  "abstract": "The selective conversion of alcohols to carbonyls (ketones and aldehydes) plays an important role in chemical manufacturing. Photocatalytic acceptorless dehydrogenation offers a light-driven alternative for producing value-added aldehydes and H 2 under mild conditions and with easy separation and high molar efficiency. However, using semiconductor photocatalysts to achieve high selectivity and long-term stability under prolonged high-intensity illumination remains challenging. In this work, we developed CdS/TiO 2 /Ni photocatalysts by depositing TiO 2 onto CdS nanoparticle panels via atomic layer deposition (ALD), followed by Ni cocatalyst photodeposition, for the acceptorless dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and H 2 . Diluting the benzyl alcohol concentration to a practical range of ~10 vol% (1 M) further increased benzaldehyde selectivity to ~95%. Ni photodeposition and zeta-potential measurements suggest that TiO 2 coatings progressively modify Cd 2+ -associated surface sites through Ti 3+ /Ti 4+ incorporation, altering adsorption kinetics and contributing to the reduced activity. This extends the photocatalyst’s lifespan from ~23 to 60 hours and increases cumulative benzaldehyde and H 2 production. TiO 2 thin-film coatings have emerged as a promising strategy to protect semiconductor photocatalysts while modifying surface active sites and reaction kinetics, and their stability-activity trade-off showing lower initial-stage activity beyond 15-cycle ALD will be discussed alongside proposed mechanisms. This work establishes a semiconductor/coating/cocatalyst design architecture that highlights the importance of engineering surface adsorption and active-site environments, alongside charge-separation strategies based on band-edge energetics and charge-carrier dynamics, to jointly optimize photocatalytic activity and product selectivity for targeted chemical synthesis.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering",
    "Yale University",
    "Energy Sciences Institute",
    "Department of Chemistry",
    "Princeton University",
    "Lam Research Corporation"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Atsu Kludze",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1814-2763"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Haoqing Su"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Fang Yuan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Abrar Sheikh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jake Heinlein"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Saumya Gulati"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Leslie Schoop"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shu Hu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9y38pjae9zzpk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15011181/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "9y38pjae9zzpk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011181/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2105|Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224086679",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9y38pjae9zzpk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15011181",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011181/v3"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "source:chemrxiv",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Ni/TiO ₂ Interfaces Enhance Benzaldehyde Selectivity in the Photocatalytic Dehydrogenation of Benzyl Alcohol",
  "title_text": "Ni/TiO ₂ Interfaces Enhance Benzaldehyde Selectivity in the Photocatalytic Dehydrogenation of Benzyl Alcohol",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T00:20:29Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9y38pjae9zzpk",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}