Microwave-assisted heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of ethylene

Porous TiO2 and SO42-/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method and ch araterized by XRD, N-2 sorption analysis applying BET method, and microwave absorption spectrum. Photocatalytic oxidation of C2H4 in air stream was st udied. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of both SO42-/Ti O2 and TiO2 catalysts was obviously increased under the reaction condition of ultraviolet combined with microwave. The conversions of ethylene over Ti O2 and SO42-/TiO2 were enhanced from 20% and 41% (UV) to 27% and 62%(UV+MW) , respectively. The effect of MW on SO42-/TiO2 catalyst was more notable, T he improvement on photocatalytic activity was attributed to the polarizatio n effect of the highly defected catalysts in microwave field, which increas ed the transition probability of photon-generated electrons and decreased t he electron-hole recombination on semiconductor surface.