ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Mechanism of photocatalytic oxidation of gaseous ethanol

C. L. Shao, D. X. Pan, R. X. Zhang, and H. Q. Hou

Institute of Environmental Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

E-mail: fdesi@fudan.edu.cn

Received: 20 February 2006  Revised: 7 July 2006  Accepted: 24 July 2006

Abstract: A photocatalytic film reactor with a titanium dioxide film was used for oxidation of gaseous ethanol at 253.7 nm. The influences of partial pressures of oxygen and water vapour in different carrier gases were studied. The rate of photocatalytic oxidation of ethanol was significantly affected by the content of oxygen but water vapour had no effect. It was suggested that the photocatalytic transformation of ethanol follows a direct oxidation mechanism where the interaction of ethanol with positive hole gives first cationic free radical of ethanol, which is converted by multipathway reactions with oxygen to acetaldehyde, ethyl formate, and ethyl acetate.

Keywords: mechanism - photocatalytic film reactor - photocatalytic oxidation - titanium dioxide - ethanol

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-006-0095-8

Chemical Papers 61 (1) 51–54 (2007)