This paper presents a review of part of the work done on photocatalytic rea
ctors. Being aware of the comprehensive reports already existing on the che
mistry of these reactions [A.M. Braun, L. Jakob, E. Oliveros, C.A. Oller do
Nascimento, Adv. Photochem. 18(1993) 235; O. Legrini, E. Oliveros, A.M. Br
aun, Chem. Rev. 93 (1993) 671; D. Bahnemann, J. Cunningham, M.A. Fox, E. Pe
lizzetti, P. Pichat, N. Serpone, in: G.R. Helz, R.G. Zepp, D.G. Crosby (Eds
.), Aquatic and Surface Photochemistry, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, 1
994, p. 261; M.R. Hoffmann, S.T. Martin, W. Choi, D.W. Bahnemann, Chem. Rev
. 95 (1995) 69; D. Bahnemann, in: P. Boule (Ed.), The Handbook of Environme
ntal Chemistry, Part I, Vol. 2, Environmental Photochemistry, Springer, Ber
lin, 1999, p. 285] we have focused our work on two main themes: (i) light a
bsorption evaluation when artificial light is used and (ii) description of
reactor configurations and applications when solar radiation is employed. A
classification is proposed for both topics and typical examples have been
chosen to illustrate the specified concepts. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
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