1) Iridium oxide (IrO2), a water oxidation co-catalyst, plays an important role in mediating the transfer of photogenerated holes from UV-irradiated TiO2.
2) The study found that IrO2 catalyzes the transfer of trapped holes to itself from TiO2 with a rate constant of 6×105 s-1.
3) Interestingly, IrO2 also catalyzes the recombination of trapped holes with reduced oxygen species, which could hinder the photocatalytic water splitting process that IrO2 is meant to enhance.