• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.6952-6957
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• 2014

In photocatalysis, the addition of metal matter to $TiO_2$ can alter the surface properties. As such, the metal can increase the rate of the photodegradation reaction. In this study, a range of modified $TiO_2$ photocatalysts were prepared and tested to improve the activity of photodegradation at a batch-typed photoreactor. To obtain a good sol solution of the $TiO_2$ photocatalyst, several types of dispersion agents and stabilizers were investigated. The photocatalyst solutions were modified with isoproply alcohol as the dispersion agent and sodium silicate as the stabilizer. The effects of various metallic elements on enhancing the photocatalytic activity of $TiO_2$ on the degradation of toluene were examined. Palladium-added $TiO_2$ was found to be the best, whereas copper or tungsten-added also showed good results. In the case of palladium addition, the increase in removal efficiency was 25%. On the other hand, Fe-added $TiO_2$ showed a notable decrease in photocatalytic degradation. Additional doping of copper or tungsten on the $Pd/TiO_2$ had no positive effect on the photodegradation activity.