Abstract

Photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) and phenol (Ph) on TiO2 in presence of H-type and L-type activated carbons (AC) was studied. Photodegradation of MB and Ph were studied under two different lamps and results were compared against those obtained on a commercial TiO2. Apparent first order rate constant for the degradation of MB was higher in presence of any AC in comparison of TiO2 alone while only in presence of ACCO2-800 phenol was photodegradated in shorter irradiation time than that required by TiO2. It can be concluded that TiO2 enhances its photoactivity by a factor up to 8.7 in the degradation of MB in presence of AC and this effect is associated to the specific surface properties of AC.