Abstract

KARUNAKARAN, Chockalingam  and  KARUTHAPANDIAN, Swaminathan. ZnO-Photocatalyzed Oxidative Transformation of Diphenylamine: Synergism by TiO₂, V₂O₅, CeO₂ and ZnS. J. Mex. Chem. Soc [online]. 2015, vol.59, n.2, pp.99-104. ISSN 1870-249X.

Diphenylamine (DPA) undergoes photocatalytic transformation on nanoparticulate ZnO surface yielding N-phenyl-p-benzoquinonimine (PBQ). The reaction rate increases with the increase of (i) DPA-concentration, (ii) ZnO-loading, (iii) airflow rate and (iv) light intensity. The formation of PBQ is larger on using UV-C light instead of UV-A light. The photocatalyst is reusable. The mechanism of the photocatalytic transformation has been discussed with a suitable kinetic law. Nanoparticulate TiO₂, V₂O₅, CeO₂ and ZnS enhance the ZnO-photocatalyzed PBQ formation indicating interparticle charge transfer in semiconductor mixtures.

Keywords : Photocatalysis; Semiconductor; Kinetic law; Interparticle charge transfer; N-phenyl-p-benzoquinonimine.