Photo-Enhanced Selective Reduction of Nitroarenes Over Pt/ZnO Catalyst

Pt–ZnO hybrid catalysts were synthesized via a facile wet chemical method for use in the photoenhanced selective hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The Pt–ZnO hybrid exhibited a good catalytic performance under UV irradiation. The reaction rate constant for the reduction of o -nitroaniline was significantly increased more than eight times upon UV illumination. This resulted from the increased photo-excited electron transport from ZnO to Pt interface, making electrons strongly perturb at the Pt surface to enhance hydrogen dissociation. Furthermore, we investigated the durable cyclic catalytic performance of the Pt–ZnO hybrid. Graphical Abstract