Catalytic photooxidation of pentachlorophenol using semiconductor nanoclusters
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a toxic chlorinated aromatic molecule widely used as fungicide, a bactericide and a wood preservation, and thus ubiquitous in the environment. The authors report photo-oxidation of PCP using a variety of nanosize semiconductor metal oxides and sulfides in both aqueous and polar organic solvents and compare the photo-oxidation kinetics of these nanoclusters to widely studied bulk powders like Degussa P-25 TiO{sub 2} and CdS. They study both the light intensity dependence of PCP photooxidation for nanosize SnO{sub 2} and the size dependence of PCP photooxidation for both nanosize SnO{sub 2} and MoS{sub 2}. They find an extremely strong size dependence for the latter which they attribute to its size-dependent band gap and the associated change in redox potentials due to quantum confinement of the hole-electron pair. The authors show that nanosize MoS{sub 2} with a diameter of d=3.0 nm and an absorbance edge of {approximately}450 nm is a very effective photooxidation catalyst for complete PCP mineralization, even when using only visible light irradiation.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 754317
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2000-0937J; 0000035112-000; 0000035112-000; TRN: AH200016%%90
- Journal Information:
- Journal Physical Chemical, Other Information: Submitted to Journal Physical Chemical; PBD: 17 Apr 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
PHOTOOXIDATION OF ORGANIC WASTES USING SEMICONDUCTOR NANOCLUSTERS
Photooxidation of organic chemicals catalyzed by nanoscale MoS{sub 2}