Photocatalytic degradation of spill oils on TiO₂ nanotube thin films

The nitrogen-doped TiO₂ nanotube (N-TNT) thin films were synthesized using ZnO nanorods as the template and doped with urea at 623 K. Under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light irradiation, the efficiencies for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue is as high as 30%. About 10% of toluene (representing aromatics in the spill oils) in sea water can be photocatalytically degraded under visible light radiation for 120 min. The aliphatic model compound (1-hexadecene) has, on the contrary, a less efficiency (8%) on the N-TNT photocatalyst. On the average, under visible light radiation, the effectnesses of the N-TNT for photocatalytic degradation of model compounds in the spill oils in sea water are 0.38 mg toluene/gN-TNT h and 0.25 mg 1-hexadecene/gN-TNT h. It is expected that spill oils in the harbors or seashores can be adsorbed and photocatalytically degraded on the N-TNT thin films that are coated onto levee at the sea water surface level.