Photocatalytic Decomposition of Crude Oil Slicks Using TiO2 on a Floating Substrate

✍ Scribed by R.J. Berry; M.R. Mueller

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 219 KB
• Volume: 50
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0026-265X
• DOI: 10.1006/mchj.1994.1054

✦ Synopsis

One of the greatest man-made environmental disasters is crude oil slicks. Oil slicks are primarily composed of hydrocarbons which often have long residence times in the environment. However, using the photocatalyst titanium dioxide, (\mathrm{TiO}{2}), and UV-A ( (330-430 \mathrm{~nm}) ) radiation from the Sun yields complete oxidation of hydrocarbons into (\mathrm{H}{2} \mathrm{O}) and (\mathrm{CO}{2}) on the surface of the water. It was observed that approximately (70 \mathrm{~mol} %) of the aromatic and 25 (\mathrm{mol} %) of the alkene model photodecomposed in (30 \mathrm{~min}) using the (\mathrm{TiO}{2}) catalyst and a UV lamp. (\mathrm{TiO}_{2}) is a nontoxic semiconducting powder which can be readily placed on a floating substrate, catalyzing the reaction, and then subsequently easily recovered. 1994 Academic Press. Inc.