Efficient Reduction of 4‐Nitrophenol by Using Pd Cluster‐Modified TiO ₂ Photocatalyst

A highly efficient composite photocatalyst, Pd‐TiO 2 nanorods (Pd‐TNR) was synthesized via hydrothermal and molten salt methods in this work. The unique nanorod structure, coupled with the presence of Ti 3+ , oxygen vacancies (Vo), and uniformly dispersed 1.5 nm Pd clusters, underpins the exceptional catalytic performance. With only 0.4% Pd loading, the Pd‐TNR catalyst achieves nearly 100% conversion of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP) within just 2 min. A plausible reaction mechanism is proposed based on comprehensive characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which elucidates the synergistic roles of the nanorod support, Ti 3+ , Vo and Pd in the photocatalytic reduction process.