Liquid phase photooxidation of toluene in the presence of transition metal oxide doped titania

Toluene is a very noxious organic compound used for the preparation of many compounds. Liquid phase photo-oxidation of toluene was carried out using poly crystalline samples of transition metal oxide doped TiO2 containing different phases of titania, namely anatase, rutile and mixture of anatase and rutile. The main objective was to find out the conversion of toluene to benzoic acid and how the phase modification of doped TiO2 affects the reaction rate. The different phases of TiO2 were determined using powder X-ray diffraction. Other methods such as chemical analysis, Surface area measurements and Crystallite size calculation were also used for the characterization of the samples. Anatase doped with transition metal oxides gives higher yield than doped rutile. Mixture of anatase and rutile has no significant effect.