Comparison of Photocatalytic Activities of Titanium Dioxide

Abstract

In order to survey the universality of the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) as well as its relationship with the characteristics of the crystal type, various photo-catalytic reactions were carried out. The rates of six types of photocatalytic reactions were measured using twelve different TiO₂ catalysts. Catalysts made by chlorine method showed superior activity than those made by sulfuric acid method irrespective of the crystal structure, i. e. anatase type or rutile type. This is due to the fact that the catalyst made by former method has less quantity of hydroxyl groups on the TiO₂ surface. For the catalysts obtained by chlorine method, the rutile type shows superior photocatalytic activity than the anatase one towards some photocatalytic reactions.