Determination of photonic efficiency and quantum yield of formaldehyde formation in the presence of various TiO2 photocatalysts

Illumination of aqueous TiO₂ suspentions yields hydroxyl radicals, which can be trapped by methanol producing formaldehyde (HCHO). In this work, the photonic efficiency and quantum yield of HCHO formation in colloidal TiO₂ solutions and, P25 and UV 100 suspensions have been determined. Differences in photocatalytic activity of the three photocatalysts have been found and are discussed. The photonic efficiency of HCHO formation in the presence of P25 and UV 100 depends on the concentration of TiO₂ and the pH. The critical concentration is 2.5 g/L. Below this, the photonic efficiency with P 25 is higher than with UV 100, and vice versa. Optimum pH values for P25 and UV 100 giving the maximum photonic efficiency are 7.7 and 10.4, respectively. Compared to P25 and UV 100, the true quantum yield of HCHO formation in colloidal TiO₂ solution varies a little with pH and virtually does not change with the amount of loading of TiO₂. The true quantum yield varies as the inverse square root of light intensity. The quantum yield increases from 0.02 to 0.08 when the absorbed photon flux decreases from 8.1 × 10^-7 Ein/L s to 4.9 × 10^-8 Ein/L s. A simple model is presented to explain the experimental observation.