Photocatalytic oxidation of diethyl sulfide vapor over TiO2-based composite photocatalysts

Molecules. 2014 Dec 19;19(12):21424-41. doi: 10.3390/molecules191221424.

Abstract

Composite TiO2/activated carbon (TiO2/AC) and TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts with TiO2 contents in the 10 to 80 wt. % range were synthesized by the TiOSO4 thermal hydrolysis method and characterized by AES, BET, X-ray diffraction and FT-IR ATR methods. All TiO2 samples were in the anatase form, with a primary crystallite size of about 11 nm. The photocatalytic activities of the TiO2/AC and TiO2/SiO2 samples were tested in the gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) reaction of diethyl sulfide (DES) vapor in a static reactor by the FT-IR in situ method. Acetaldehyde, formic acid, ethylene and SO2 were registered as the intermediate products which finally were completely oxidized to the final oxidation products - H2O, CO2, CO and SO42- ions. The influence of the support on the kinetics of DES PCO and on the TiO2/AC and TiO2/SiO2 samples' stability during three long-term DES PCO cycles was investigated. The highest PCO rate was observed for TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts. To evaluate the activity of photocatalysts the turnover frequency values (TOF) were calculated for three photocatalysts (TiO2, TiO2/AC and TiO2/SiO2) for the same amount of mineralized DES. It was demonstrated that the TOF value for composite TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts was 3.5 times higher than for pure TiO2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Carbon Dioxide / chemistry
  • Catalysis
  • Kinetics
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Photochemical Processes
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Sulfides / chemistry*
  • Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

  • Sulfides
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • titanium dioxide
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • diethyl sulfide
  • Titanium