Selective oxidative degradation of organic pollutants by singlet oxygen-mediated photosensitization: Tin porphyrin versus C60 aminofullerene systems

Abstract

This study evaluates the potential application of tin porphyrin- and C 60 aminofullerene-derivatized silica (SnP/silica and aminoC 60/silica) as O2 generating systems for photochemical degradation of organic pollutants. Photosensitized O2 production with SnP/silica, which was faster than with aminoC60/silica, effectively oxidized a variety of pharmaceuticals. Significant degradation of pharmaceuticals in the presence of the 400-nm UV cutoff filter corroborated visible light activation of both photosensitizers. Whereas the efficacy of aminoC60/silica for O2 production drastically decreased under irradiation with λ > 550 nm, Q-band absorption caused negligible loss of the photosensitizing activity of SnP/silica in the long wavelength region. Faster destruction of phenolates by SnP/silica and aminoC60/silica under alkaline pH conditions further implicated O2 involvement in the oxidative degradation. Direct charge transfer mediated by SnP, which was inferred from nanosecond laser flash photolysis, induced significant degradation of neutral phenols under high power light irradiation. Self-sensitized destruction caused gradual activity loss of SnP/silica in reuse tests unlike aminoC60/silica. The kinetic comparison of SnP/silica and TiO2 photocatalyst in real wastewater effluents showed that photosensitized singlet ox