Photocatalytic oxidation of toluene in presence of water vapor using sol-gel synthesized N-doped TiO2

Abstract

Toluene removal by photocatalytic oxidation in presence of water vapor was investigated on N-doped TiO2. The photocatalyst was prepared by a sol-gel method and characterized by various techniques. The conversion of toluene by photocatalytic oxidation in the presence of water vapor was reported at different reaction conditions, such as various reaction temperatures, various toluene/ water vapor concentrations. By using Langmuir– Hinshelwood model the activation energy (Ea) of the reaction of 1.33 kcal/mol was obtained. The heat of toluene adsorption and the heat of water vapor adsorption on the N-doped TiO2 catalyst were approximately −3.47 kcal/mol and −3.30 kcal/mol, respectively.