International Journal of Photoenergy 
Volume 2 (2000), Issue 2, Pages 67-80
doi:10.1155/S1110662X00000106

Photocatalytic degradation of aqueous tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-dioxane, and their mixture with TiO2

Mehrab Mehrvar,1 William A. Anderson,2 and Murray Moo-Young2

 1Department of Chemistry, Biology and Chemical Engineering, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
2Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation of tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-dioxane, and their mixture in a slurry photoreactor was studied. Using both GC/MS and ion chromatography (IC) methods, possible intermediates were detected and the reaction mechanism pathways for both compounds were proposed. Kinetic models were developed and the kinetic parameters were estimated using a statistical method of non-linear parameter estimation in which all experimental data were utilized. It was shown that tetrahydrofuran was disappeared via direct oxidation as well as hydroxyl radical attack. A modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood described the degradation behavior of tetrahydrofuran and the binary system. 1,4-Dioxane obeyed a simple Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic form in the single compound system.