Evaluation of diffusibility of adsorbed propionaldehyde on titanium dioxide-loaded adsorbent photocatalyst films from its photodecomposition rate

Photocatalytic degradation of gaseous propionaldehyde over TiO2-loaded adsorbent films was investigated after adsorption equilibrium was obtained using silica, alumina, activated carbon, and several kinds of zeolites as adsorbents. Irradiation of one-tenth of the TiO2-loaded adsorbent film caused complete mineralization of the adsorbed substrate in the entire film, although the rates obtained in that case were much lower than one-tenth of the rates obtained with the total area irradiation, indicating a considerable contribution of supply of the adsorbed substrate from the nonirradiated part of the film to the irradiated part. The apparent diffusion coefficient D-app of adsorbed substrate was evaluated by applying the time course of CO2 evolution obtained in the area-selective photodecomposition reaction to a one-dimensional diffusion model. The D-app values estimated for various kinds of TiO2-loaded adsorbent supports explain well the differences in the photodecomposition rates obtained at these photocatalysts. On the basis of experimental results, the effect of diffusion of the adsorbed substrate on the photodecomposition kinetics is quantitatively discussed.