TY - JOUR
T1 - Photodegradation kinetics of stearic acid on UV-irradiated titania thin film separately followed by optical microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
AU - Ghazzal, M.N.
AU - Barthen, N.
AU - Chaoui, N.
PY - 2011/3/14
Y1 - 2011/3/14
N2 - We use optical microscopy for observing the photocatalytical decomposition of SA on titania film during exposure to a simulated solar illumination. The titania films were prepared via sol-gel and deposited on a borosilicate glass substrate by dip-coating. A low amount of SA was deposited by dipping the titania film in a methanolic SA solution. Optical micrographs showed that the deposited SA forms islands with variable heights and sizes and that upon UV-irradiation, these latter decomposed gradually from the edges towards the center. The SA photodecomposition as evaluated by measuring the integrated IR absorbance of SA in the 2700-3000cm region, proceeded according to a pseudo first-order kinetics with respect to SA. By contrast, it was of the zero-order type when monitoring the decomposition of an individual SA island by microscopy. From these results, we showed that the pseudo first-order kinetics is the result of a collective effect of many independent and parallel zero-order reactions with variable durations. This scenario describes well both the experimental data and those reported in literature.
AB - We use optical microscopy for observing the photocatalytical decomposition of SA on titania film during exposure to a simulated solar illumination. The titania films were prepared via sol-gel and deposited on a borosilicate glass substrate by dip-coating. A low amount of SA was deposited by dipping the titania film in a methanolic SA solution. Optical micrographs showed that the deposited SA forms islands with variable heights and sizes and that upon UV-irradiation, these latter decomposed gradually from the edges towards the center. The SA photodecomposition as evaluated by measuring the integrated IR absorbance of SA in the 2700-3000cm region, proceeded according to a pseudo first-order kinetics with respect to SA. By contrast, it was of the zero-order type when monitoring the decomposition of an individual SA island by microscopy. From these results, we showed that the pseudo first-order kinetics is the result of a collective effect of many independent and parallel zero-order reactions with variable durations. This scenario describes well both the experimental data and those reported in literature.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79951941577&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2011.01.013
DO - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2011.01.013
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79951941577
SN - 0926-3373
VL - 103
SP - 85
EP - 90
JO - Applied Catalysis. B: Environmental
JF - Applied Catalysis. B: Environmental
IS - 1-2
ER -