Monitoring Photocatalytic Degradation of Plasmocorinth B with Titania Thin Films using Non‐Spectroscopic Methods

Abstract

AbstractDue to its advantageous properties, titanium dioxide has been one of the most researched metal oxides and extensively used in various fields, including photocatalysis. Metal (platinum) and non‐metal (sulfur, nitrogen) doped titania thin films were prepared via a particular sol‐gel synthesis, coated onto object glasses and then thermally treated to promote TiO2 crystallization. Until now, photocatalytic activity of titania thin films has mostly been measured with different spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV‐Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy). The aim of the work presented in this article was to find alternative, non‐spectroscopic methods for photocatalytic activity measurements. To achieve this, we performed in‐situ UV‐Vis absorption spectra, conductivity (κ) and pH measurements during photocatalytic degradation of Plasmocorinth B under UV light illumination. Results have shown that there exists a linear correlation between changes in conductivity (Δκ), pH (ΔpH) values and photocatalytic activity of the samples, measured with UV‐Vis spectroscopy.