Ozone enhanced activity of aqueous titanium dioxide suspensions for photocatalytic oxidation of free cyanide ions

The ozonization and the heterogeneous photocatalytic method are contemporarily applied for the oxidation of free cyanide ions. A batch photoreactor with immersed lamp was used for treating aqueous suspensions containing polycrystalline TiO2 powders irradiated in the near-UV region. Air or ozone–air mixtures were used as oxidation reactants. At the used experimental conditions, the photoreaction proceeds at a measurable rate until low values of cyanide concentration. In the presence of ozone (O3) several parallel reaction routes are contributing to the overall cyanide degradation: (i) homogeneous oxidation by ozone; (ii) heterogeneous catalytic reaction by ozone; (iii) photocatalytic degrada…