Activation of TiO2 photocatalyst by single-bubble sonoluminescence for water treatment

摘要

Single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) continues to attract many researchers because the physics behind it remains uncertain and few applications have appeared. In this study, we propose to apply SBSL to a water-treatment technique. The SBSL flashes contain intense ultraviolet light, which activates a TiO2 photocatalyst to decompose organic compounds in water. This mechanism comes from the similar Spectrum patterns between SBSL emission and TiO2 absorption. SBSL in solutions containing small amount of TiO2 powder decomposed phenol and 2,4-dinitrophenol with efficiency several times higher than those by the existing methods. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [References: 6]