Photo-catalytic degradation of rhodamine B using microwave powered electrodeless discharge lamp

A microwave discharge electrodeless lamp (MDEL) was used as the light source for microwave assisted TiO2 photo-catalysis to degrade rhodamine B. A MDEL filled with low pressure mercury gas has been developed for the photo-catalytic treatment of water pollutants over TiO2 balls. TiO2 balls produced by the chemical vapor deposition method were used. The degradation reaction rate was shown to be higher with higher microwave intensity and with a larger amount of O-2 gas addition. The effect of addition of H2O2 was not significant when photo-catalysis was used without additional microwave irradiation or when microwave was irradiated without the use of photo-catalysts. When H2O2 was added under simultaneous use of photo-catalysis and microwave irradiation, however, considerably higher degradation reaction rates were observed. This result suggests that there is a synergy effect when the constituent techniques are applied together.