Photocatalysis of fluorene adsorbed onto TiO2 Original Research Article

The adsorption of fluorene onto TiO2 has been investigated by conducting equilibrium and kinetic experiments. Adsorption isotherms have been evaluated at two different pHs in the range of temperatures 296–325 K. The type III isotherm shapes obtained were modelled by considering several expressions taken from the literature. Temperature exerted a positive influence in fluorene uptake. Addition of phosphates involved a negative effect when computing the final equilibrium fluorene removal. The kinetic experiments carried out at 296 K corroborated the competitiveness of phosphates to occupy the active sites on the titania surface. Nevertheless, equilibrium conditions are faster achieved at pH 2 than at pH 5. The photocatalysis of fluorene at different initial concentrations of the parent compound revealed a slight improvement of the process at pH 5 if compared to the results obtained at pH 2. A Langmuir–Hinselwood representation of the data confirms the previous statement. Catalyst load shows an optimum, concentration values of the photocatalyst above the optimum provoke a decrease in the fluorene abatement rate. Reutilisation of the catalyst indicates that fluorene is completely eliminated from the solid, i.e. it is suggested that fluorene and intermediates are surface oxidised.