Premium
Photocatalytic Synthesis of p ‐Anisaldehyde in a Mini Slurry‐Bubble Reactor under Solar Light Irradiation
Author(s) -
Heggo Dalia,
Ookawara Shinichi,
Ohno Teruhisa,
Nakai Toru,
Matsushita Yoshihisa,
Eldin Mona Gamal,
Ohshima Masahiro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.23586
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , rutile , slurry , visible spectrum , materials science , irradiation , catalysis , solar simulator , photochemistry , nuclear chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , chemistry , optoelectronics , solar cell , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , nuclear physics , engineering
Dense photocatalyst slurry was employed for the synthesis of p ‐anisaldehyde under solar light irradiation. An Fe‐modified rutile TiO 2 (Fe‐TiO 2, 34.5 m 2 /g) photocatalyst was used as a visible‐light‐responsive photocatalyst. A conventional TiO 2 (P25, 35 m 2 /g) photocatalyst was also examined as a reference catalyst. XRD patterns and diffuse reflectance spectra showed that Fe‐TiO 2 consists of 100 % rutile phase and absorbs more visible light compared to P25, respectively. The catalyst powder was suspended in an ethyl acetate solution of p ‐methoxytoluene in the mini‐reactor, with oxygen bubbling, under a solar simulator, visible light, and UV LEDs. p ‐anisaldehyde, as a reaction product, was analyzed by sampling using gas‐chromatograph. Regardless of the light source, Fe‐TiO 2 always outperformed P25 in terms of both generation rates (GR) of p ‐anisaldehyde and energy requirements (ER). It was demonstrated that the highly dense Fe‐TiO 2 slurry was efficient for the synthesis under solar light owing to the small size of the reactor. The small amount of Pt and ZrO 2 cocatalysts significantly enhanced the GR under solar light. By adopting a visible light responsive Fe‐TiO 2 photocatalyst, the mini slurry‐bubble reactor under solar light achieved a high GR per catalyst mass (CM), which is one to two orders higher than that reported by most previous studies with high‐power lamps.