PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF PHENOL ON TIO2 POWDERS - A FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED STUDY

In the present paper a detailed investigation of a well known photorea ction, i.e. phenol photodegradation in the presence of TiO2, has been carried out. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) technique has been used to characterize the catalyst surface and to follow the photoproc ess by ''in situ'' measurements in a gas-solid regime, simulating the aqueous liquid-solid regime in which this photodegradation reaction ha s been usually carried out. The influence on the photoprocess of the s urface hydroxylation of the catalyst has been investigated and the pre sence of some reaction intermediates has been revealed by FT-IR. The e xperimental results have demonstrated that the chosen gas-solid system in the presence of water vapour is an acceptable simulation of the aq ueous liquid-solid regime.