Phenol photodegradation on platinized-TiO2 photocatalysts related to charge-carrier dynamics.

C. A. EMILIO; M.I. LITTER; M. KUNST; M. BOUCHARD; C. COLBEAU-JUSTIN

LANGMUIR

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 2006 vol. 22 p. 3606 - 3613

0743-7463

Three commercial TiO2 compounds (Degussa-P25, Sachtleben-UV100, Millenium-PC50) and their platinized forms have been studied by the Time Resolved Microwave Conductivity (TRMC) method, to follow their charge-carrier dynamics and to relate it to the photocatalytic activity for phenol degradation in TiO2-aqueous suspensions. The degradation reaction has been studied in detail, following the time evolution of the concentration of phenol and its intermediates by liquid chromatography. The results show that platinization has a distinct influence on the commercial compounds, decreasing globally the activity of P25 and increasing the activity of PC50 and UV100. An influence of charge-carrier lifetimes on the photoactivity of pure and platinized TiO2 samples has been evidenced.