Photocatalytic oxidation of gaseous DMF using thin film TiO2 photocatalyst.

The heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of gaseous N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF) widely used in the manufacture of synthetic leather and synthetic textile was investigated. The experiments were carried out in a plug flow annular photoreactor coated with Degussa P-25 TiO2. The oxidation rate was dependent on DMF concentration, reaction temperature, water vapor, and oxygen content. Photocatalytic deactivation was observed in these reactions. The Levenspiel deactivation kinetic model was used to describe the decay of catalyst activity. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was used to characterize the surface and the deactivation mechanism of the photocatalyst. Results revealed that carbonylic acids, aldehydes, amines, carbonate and nitrate were adsorbed on the TiO2 surface during the photocatalytic reaction. The ions, NH4+ and NO3-, causing the deactivation of catalysts were detected on the TiO2 surface. Several treatment processes were applied to find a suitable procedure for the regeneration of catalytic activity. Among these procedures, the best one was found to be the H2O2/UV process.

Oxidation of TNT by photo-Fenton process.

A series of photo-Fenton reactions have been performed for the degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in a 4.2-l reactor. The degradation reaction rate of TNT followed a pseudo-first-order behavior; and the rate constants for 2.4mW cm(-2)UV only, 2.4mW cm(-2)UV/H(2)O(2), Fenton, photo-Fenton (2.4mW cm(-2)) and photo-Fenton (4.7mW cm(-2)) were 0.002min(-1), 0.007min(-1), 0.014min(-1), 0.025min(-1) and 0.037min(-1), respectively. Increasing the intensity of UV light, and the concentrations of ferrous ions and hydrogen peroxide promoted the oxidation rate under the experimental conditions in this study. The weighting factor (f), the Fe(II)-promoted efficiency (r) and the promoted-UV light efficiency (p) were calculated to clarify their effects on the TNT oxidation. Moreover, the inhibition effect of hydroxyl radical was also observed in both Fenton and photo-Fenton oxidation when the concentration of Fe(II) were higher than 2.88mM. Solid phase micro-extraction was first applied to the separation of the organic byproducts from TNT oxidation. GC/MS was employed to identify the byproducts during the Fenton and photo-Fenton oxidation of TNT. These compounds were clarified as 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, 1-methyl-2,4-dinitrobenzene 2,5-dinitrobenzoic acid and 1,3-dinitrobenzene. By these byproducts, the mechanisms of the methyl group oxidation, decarboxylation, aromatic ring breakage, and hydrolysis can be recognized and demonstrated. The pathway of TNT oxidation by photo-Fenton process was also proposed in this study.

Oxidation of explosives by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes.

In this study, the Fenton process was used to explore the possibility of treating explosives, namely 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (PA), ammonium picronitrate (AP), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), methyl-2,4,6-trinitrophenylnitramine (Tetryl) and 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). The photo-Fenton process was also conducted to compare its oxidation efficiency with the Fenton process. The inhibition of hydroxyl radical and theory of crystal field stabilization energy were introduced in this study. Results show that oxidation efficiencies in Fenton system are in the following sequence: DNT > PA > AP > TNT > Tetryl > RDX > HMX. The degradation of the explosives obeys a pseudo-first-order behavior, and possible decomposing mechanisms are also discussed. For all explosives, the oxidation rates significantly increased with increasing the concentration of Fe(II), as well as illumination with UV light.

Influence of surface modification on catalytic activity of activated carbon toward decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and 2-chlorophenol.

The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of the activated carbons modified by chemical treatment on the surface catalyzed loss of H2O2 and 2-CP. The characteristics of the modified activated carbons were examined by several techniques including nitrogen adsorption, SEM, and EDS. The H2O2 decomposition rate would be suppressed significantly either by the change of surface properties modified with chemical treatment or the reduction of active sites occupied with the adsorption of 2-CP. In addition, the H2O2 decomposition rate with activated carbons within a specific time can be described by a second-order kinetic expression with respect to the concentration of GAC and H2O2 in the absence or presence of 2-CP. The catalytic activities of the three activated carbons toward 2-CP reduction followed the inverse sequence of those toward H2O2 loss, implying that acidic surface functional group could retard the H2O2 loss and reduce the effect of surface scavenging resulting in increasing the reduction efficiency of 2-CP. By the detection of chloride ions in reaction mixture, it can be demonstrated that the reduction of 2-CP was not only attributed to the advanced adsorption but also the oxidation of the 2-CP with effective radicals. The real oxidation efficiency of 2-CP for the activated carbon modified with hot nitric acid was observed between 0.04 and 0.01 (mol/mol), offering a comparable efficiency to that of the other oxidation system using metal oxide as catalyst.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of acetone for airpurification by near UV-irradiated titanium dioxide.

This work presents a photocatalysis-based method to treat and purify air because of its broad applicability to common, oxidizable air contaminants. The effect of oxygen content, temperature, water vapor, and acetone concentration on the photooxidation of acetone on TiO2 surface was investigated. The photocatalytic decomposition reaction of acetone obeyed the first-order equation. The decomposition rate increased with increasing the oxygen content. The rate of acetone oxidation increased when water vapor increased from 18.7 to 417 microM and decreased at higher than 417 microM. The conversion and mineralization of acetone decreased at higher than 138 degrees C. The initial rate of acetone degradation can be well described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood rate form. The specific reaction rate constant and the equilibrium adsorption are 15.8 microM/min and 0.0671 L/microM, respectively. The difference between observed and estimated half-lives became larger when the initial concentration of acetone was increased. It is assumed that the intermediates competed with parent compound so that delayed the half-life. The detection of CO2 production can support this assumption.

Catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and 4-chlorophenol in the presence of modified activated carbons.

The objective of this research was to examine the heterogeneous catalytic decomposition of H(2)O(2) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in the presence of activated carbons modified with chemical pretreatments. The decomposition of H(2)O(2) was suppressed significantly by the change of surface properties including the decreased pH(pzc) modified with oxidizing agent and the reduced active sites occupied by the adsorption of 4-CP. The apparent reaction rate of H(2)O(2) decomposition was dominated by the intrinsic reaction rates on the surface of activated carbon rather than the mass transfer rate of H(2)O(2) to the solid surface. By the detection of chloride ion in suspension, the reduction of 4-CP was not only attributed to the advanced adsorption but also the degradation of 4-CP. The catalytic activity toward 4-CP for the activated carbon followed the inverse sequence of the activity toward H(2)O(2), suggesting that acidic surface functional group could retard the H(2)O(2) loss and reduce the effect of surface scavenging resulting in the increase of the 4-CP degradation efficiency. Few effective radicals were expected to react with 4-CP for the strong effect of surface scavenging, which could explain why the degradation rate of 4-CP observed in this study was so slow and the dechlorination efficiency was independent of the 4-CP concentration in aqueous phase. Results show that the combination of H(2)O(2) and granular activated carbon (GAC) did increase the total removal of 4-CP than that by single GAC adsorption.

Role of goethite dissolution in the oxidation of 2-chlorophenol with hydrogen peroxide.

It is well known that the dissolution of goethite plays an important role in catalyzing the oxidation of organic chemicals. Therefore, this study investigates how surface dissolution of goethite affects 2-chlorophenol oxidation in the goethite/H2O2 process. Experimental results indicate that ligand and reductant can enhance the dissolution rate of goethite, which is surface-controlled. Our results further indicate 2-chlorophenol degradation depends on goethite concentration. In addition, the oxidation rate of 2-CP is correlated with reductive dissolution rate at various dosages of goethite. Moreover, the oxidation mechanism of 2-CP is also a surface-controlled reaction. A mechanism proposed herein indicates that, in addition to the contaminant, its intermediate species affect the oxidation rate as well.