Photocatalytic degradation of trichloroethylene on zinc oxide nanorods

T. F. Hsu, T. L. Hsiung, Y. L. Wei, Hong-Paul Wang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds are carcinogenic and extremely persistent in the environment. Of which, trichloroethylene (TCE) is chosen as the probe molecule because it is associated with emissions from a wide range of industrial processes and its vapor is of great environmental concern, as it represents one of the most commonly detected pollutants in hazardous waste sites and landfills. Photodegradation of TCE has been catalyzed by the ZnO nanorods that have a well hexagonal structure with a diameter of about 400 nm. Under UV irradiation for 300 min, about 41% of TCE can be photocatalytically degraded. The photoactive species (OH•) formed on the ZnO nanorods under UV irradiation may be attributed to the effectively photocatalytic dechlorination. The intermediate dichloroacetyl chloride yielded during the photocatalytic degradation of TCE has also been observed by on-line FTIR and eventually is oxidized to CO2 and HCl.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAmerican Chemical Society - 237th National Meeting and Exposition, ACS 2009, Abstracts of Scientific Papers
Publication statusPublished - 2009 Dec 1
Event237th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, ACS 2009 - Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Duration: 2009 Mar 222009 Mar 26

Publication series

NameACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
ISSN (Print)0065-7727

Other

Other237th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, ACS 2009
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City, UT
Period09-03-2209-03-26

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering

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