Removal of dimethyl sulfide utilizing activated carbon fiber-supported photocatalyst in continuous-flow system

The present study investigated the adsorptional photocatalytic decomposition (APD) efficiency of activated carbon fiber-supported TiO2 (ACF/TiO2) in a continuous-flow reactor for the removal of dimethyl sulfide (DMS). The SEM analysis identified that the ACF/TiO2 exhibited the same tridimensional shape as uncovered ACF and that a TiO2 photocatalyst could be embedded in the surface of the ACF. In the absence of UV light, the time-series removal efficiencies by ACF and the ACF/TiO2 units exhibited a similar pattern, which decreased gradually as it reached close to zero. However, the APD efficiency determined via the ACF/TiO2 with UV light remained at nearly 60% during the remaining courses of the 13-h period, after decreasing from a maximum APD of 80%. The APD efficiencies depended upon the weights of the TiO2 embedded into the ACFs, the UV sources, the relative humidity, and DMS input concentrations. During a long-term (219-h) APD test, the APD efficiencies dropped from 80% to ca 60% within 1 h after the initiation of the APD process and then fluctuated between 52% and 60%. No byproducts were measurable or observable in the effluent gas or on the ACF/TiO2 surface. Consequently, the continuous-flow ACF/TiO2 system could effectively be applied to control DMS without any significant functional deterioration. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.