Innovative and stable TiO2 supported catalytic surfaces removing aldehydes under UV-light irradiation

Abstract

The present study reports the photocatalytic degradation of aldehydes using TiO2 impregnated polyester (PES) and glass fiber (GFT)-TiO2 addressing the photocatalytic degradation aldehydes (air-solid interface). The PES-TiO2 optical absorption was determined by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). By X-ray diffraction (XRD), the formation of TiO2 anatase on the PES surface was detected. The photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of butyraldehyde and isovaleraldehyde was carried out in a batch photo-reactor equipped with a UV-mercury Philips 9W lamp and mediated by glass fiber GFT-TiO2 and PES-TiO2 surfaces. The removal of these two aldehydes was found to be a function of pollutant concentrations. The stable catalytic reuse of both catalysts reported. A Langmuir Hinshelwood (L-H) model describes the degradation kinetics on PES-TiO2 and on GFT-TiO2. The aldehyde degradation by-products were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Three organics intermediates identified during the aldehyde degradation were: acetones, alcohols and fatty acids.