ABSTRACT
Actual water-treatment challenges will necessarily be multicomponent. First, as is the case for coal tar creosote, a process must treat several components that constitute the feed. Second, in the course of mineralization of any organic contaminant, oxidation will logically implicate a series of intermediate products of progressively higher oxygen to carbon ratios on the way to carbon dioxide. During irradiation, the catalyst particulates also showed significant color changes. Light alone and the semiconductor catalyst alone have little, if any, effect on the transformation of 2,3-xylenol. The individual phenolic substrates were purchased from Aldrich and used without further treatment. Invariably, through accidental spills, misuse, and inadequate disposal, creosote leachates contaminate the aquatic environments. The chapter focuses on the photomineralization of pentachlorophenol,phenol,and cresols,which together with the more recently examined xylenols and 2,3,5-trimethyl-phenol, is one of several aspects of work.
