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Updated: Nov 23, 2025

Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Self-Driven Reactive Oxygen Species Generation via Interfacial Oxygen Vacancies on Carbon-Coated TiO2- with Versatile
Pin Lyu1, Jian Zhu1, Chongchong Han1
1The Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, International Joint Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, P.R. China.
Abstract:
The effective activation and utilization of O2 have always been the focus of scientists because of its wide applications in catalysis, organic synthesis, life and medical science. Here, a novel method for activating O2 spontaneously via interfacial oxygen vacancies on carbon-coated TiO2- to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) with versatile applications is reported. The interfacial oxygen vacancies can be stabilized by the carbon layer and hold its intrinsic properties for spontaneous oxygen activation without light irradiation, while common surface oxygen vacancies on TiO2- are always consumed by the capture of H2O to form the surface hydroxyls. Thus, O2 absorbed at the interface of carbon and TiO2- can be directly activated into singlet oxygen (1O2) or superoxide radicals (·O2-), confirmed both experimentally and theoretically. These reactive oxygen species exhibit excellent performance in oxidation reactions and inhibition of MCF-7 cancer cells, providing new insight into the effective utilization of O2 via oxygen vacancies on metal oxides.
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