Investigation of the Photocatalytic Degradation of Ethanol and Acetone

Abstract

In-situ transmission Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to study the photocatalytic oxidation of acetone, ethanol and the interaction between acetone and ethanol. Compared with the degradation of acetone alone, it cannot be described by Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation in presence of ethanol. The presence of ethanol reduces the initial degradation rate of acetone and the inhibition increases with increasing of ethanol in the system. Acetone also inhibits the degradation of ethanol but it still can be described by the L-H equation. Acetaldehyde in the system comes from the degradation of ethanol, the behavior of production and consumption of which is affected by the amount of ethanol and acetone in the mixture. Temperature significantly affects the degradation of organic compounds in the mixture. Increasing the temperature accelerates the degradation of ethanol and acetone as well as the degradation of acetaldehyde, an intermediate produced in the system. The flux of the reaction system has little effect on the photocatalytic process of organic matter.