Abstract
Conduction band electrons produced by band gap excitation of TiO~2~‐particles reduce efficiently thiosulfate to sulfide and sulfite.
\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm 2e}_{{\rm cb}}^ - ({\rm TiO}_{\rm 2}) + {\rm S}_{\rm 2} {\rm O}_3^{2 - } \longrightarrow {\rm S}^{2 - } + {\rm SO}_3^{2 - } $\end{document}
This reaction is confirmed by electrochemical investigations with polycrystalline TiO~2~‐electrodes. The valence band process in alkaline TiO~2~‐dispersions involves oxidation of S~2~O to tetrathionate which quantitatively dismutates into sulfite and thiosulfate, the net reaction being:
\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ 2{\rm h}^{\rm + } ({\rm TiO}_{\rm 2}) + 0.5{\rm S}_{\rm 2} {\rm O}_{\rm 3}^{{\rm 2} - } + 1.5{\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm O} \longrightarrow {\rm SO}_3^{2 - } + 3{\rm H}^{\rm + } $\end{document}
This photodriven disproportionation of thiosulfate into sulfide and sulfite: \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ 1.5{\rm H}_{\rm 2} {\rm O } + 1.5{\rm S}_{\rm 2} {\rm O}_{\rm 3}^{{\rm 2} - } \mathop \to \limits^{h\nu} 2{\rm SO}_3^{2 - } + {\rm S}^{{\rm 2} - } + 3{\rm H}^{\rm + } $\end{document} should be of great interest for systems that photochemically split hydrogen sulfide into hydrogen and sulfur.