Investigation of retardation effects on the titanium dioxide photodegradation system

The photocatalytic bleaching of dyes using TiO2 has appeared promising in laboratory studies, but little attention has been focused on whether other species such as might be found in wastewater have a deleterious effect on the photobleaching. This study describes the effects that result from the presence of ionic species, organic solvents and humic substances on the photobleaching of several dyes. The manner in which the photobleaching was affected by the presence of adventitious materials was carefully examined with an eye toward elucidating the mechanistic origin of the loss of the photochemical efficiency in the reaction. The overall retardation effects can be attributed to the combination of light attenuation, inhibition and competition effects.