Photocatalytic Oxidation Kinetics of Thiophene with Nano-TiO2 as Photocatalyst

Photocatalytic oxidative kinetics of thiophene in n-octane/water extraction system was studied with nano-TiO
₂
powders as photocatalyst and O
₂
in air as oxidant. Influence of initial concentration of thiophene and addition of TiO
₂
on reaction rate constant and half time were investigated. Kinetics equation was founded. The results showed that the approviate addition of TiO
₂
was 0.1 g in 100 mL reaction system and the photooxidation kinetics of thiophene with TiO
₂
was first-order with rate constant of 0.6405 h
^-1
and half-time of 1.0822 h under the conditions with initial concentration of thiophene at 800 muLldrL
^-1
and addition of TiO
₂
at 0.1 g. The reaction rate constant increased with the decrease of initial concentration of thiophene.