Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of 3-pyridinemethanol to 3-pyridinemethanal and vitamin B3 by TiO2 nanotubes

In this paper, the first photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) 3-pyridinemethanol oxidation to 3-pyridinemethanal and vitamin B-3 was investigated. To meet this aim, efficient nanotube structured TiO2 on a Ti plate as a photoanode was prepared by an anodic oxidation method in ethylene glycol and characterized by XRD, SEM, and photocurrent techniques. The effect of nanotube morphology, applied potential, Na2SO4 concentration, stirring speed of solution, and pH on the reaction activity and product selectivities were investigated. The TiO2 phase of all of the anodes was mainly the anatase one. The PEC activity, the intensity of the XRD peak and the photocurrent increased by increasing the nanotube lengt…