The photocatalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene (TCE), ethylene. ethane and toluene on TiO2, Pt/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 were investigated in a dedicated reactor set-up operated at room temperature and ambient pressure condition. The gas phase experiments were carried out for both single and binary mixtures of these chemicals to identify the role of Pt and Ag metallisation in the photocatalytic oxidation of different contaminants. In a single contaminant system, the presence of Pt enhanced the oxidation of ethylene, ethane and toluene but detrimental to the oxidation of TCE. In the oxidation of ethylene, Pt enhanced the oxidation by acting as catalyst and as electron sink. However, in ethane oxidation, the enhancement was solely associated to the ability of Pt to act as electron sink. The detrimental effect observed in TCE oxidation was attributed to Pt and Cl interaction, which formed a persistent inorganic chlorine species decreasing the overall Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst performance. Interestingly, Ag did not show any significant effect to the oxidation of any single system degradation. In binary system degradation, where TCE and another organic compound either ethylene, ethane or toluene were degraded simultaneously, Pt always caused a detrimental effect due to its strong interaction with Cl. However, the presence of Ag and Cl gives a more synergetic effect. Ag was found to provide sites to temporarily trap chlorine radicals as AgCl. Under illumination, electrons transferred from Cl to Ag forming chlorine radicals that could react with the surface contaminant enhancing its breakdown and mineralization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/187177 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Djongkah, Cissillia Young, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Cissillia Young Djongkah, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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