Title: Performance improvement of TiO₂ supported on adsorbents for photocatalytic degradation of MEK in air

Authors: Pavan Kumar Puttamraju, Madhumita B. Ray

Addresses: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, 117576 Singapore. ' Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Thompson Engineering Building, Room 443, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada

Abstract: Photocatalytic degradation of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) was carried out in gas phase using TiO₂ supported on different adsorbents. Based on size and surface area, three different adsorbents, montmorillonite, β-zeolite and MCM-41 were tested. A fluidised bed annular photoreactor fitted with either 254 or 365 nm lamps was used for the photodegradation studies. The removal rates of MEK were higher for the catalysts supported on the adsorbent as compared to bare TiO₂ (Degussa P25 and sol-gel TiO₂) due to both improved adsorption and photocatalytic degradation. The photocatalytic activity of the supported TiO₂ was maximum around 50 wt.% loading of TiO₂. Among all the adsorbents tested, montmorillonite showed better removal rate than MCM-41 and β-zeolite. Some limited experiments were conducted with Trichloroethylene (TCE) to evaluate the effect of polarity of the organic compound on overall degradation using the supported catalysts.

Keywords: photocatalytic degradation; organic compounds; TiO₂; adsorbents; supported catalyst; titanium dioxide loading; methyl ethyl ketone; MEK; trichloroethylene; TCE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2008.017864

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2008 Vol.9 No.1, pp.105 - 124

Published online: 20 Apr 2008 *

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