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Trichloroethylene-promoted photocatalytic oxidation of air contaminants

Journal Article · · Journal of Catalysis
;  [1]
  1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
The prospects for photocatalytic purification and treatment of air depend centrally on finding conditions for which the apparent photoefficiency for contaminant disappearance is near or above 100%. The authors recently demonstrated that destruction of a low photoefficiency contaminant, toluene, by addition of a high photoefficiency compound, trichloroethylene, could raise the toluene photoefficiency to provide 100% conversion in a single pass, fixed bed illuminated catalyst, using a residence time of about 5-6 ms. The present paper establishes the generality of this TCE enhancement of contaminant rate and photoefficiency by examining the photocatalytic oxidation of various common contaminants at 50 mg/m{sup 3} in air, including alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, aromatics, and chloroalkanes using near-UV-illuminated titanium dioxide powder in a flow reactor, in the absence and presence of trichloroethylene (TCE). Compounds exhibiting TCE rate promotion were toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), acetaldehyde, butyraidehyde, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), methyl acrylate, 1,4-dioxane, and hexane. Rate inhibition by TCE was exhibited for acetone, methylene chloride, chloroform, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. TCE presence had almost no effect on the benzene and methanol rates. Butanol and vinyl acetate single component conversions were 100% under standard low flow rate conditions; increasing the flow rate quenched TCE conversion in the presence of butanol, and therefore no TCE enhancement effect could be noted. 19 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.
OSTI ID:
563504
Journal Information:
Journal of Catalysis, Journal Name: Journal of Catalysis Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 167; ISSN 0021-9517; ISSN JCTLA5
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English