Michael Herrenbauer

Photocatalytic Based Degradation Processes of Lignin Derivatives

Photocatalysis, belonging to the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), is a potential new transformation technology for lignin derivatives to value added products (e.g., phenol, benzene, toluene, and xylene). Moreover, lignin represents the only viable source to produce aromatic compounds as fossil fuel alternative. This review covers recent advancement made in the photochemical transformation of industrial lignins. It starts with the photochemical reaction principle followed by results obtained by varying process parameters. In this context, influences of photocatalysts, metal ions, additives, lignin concentration, and illumination intensity and the influence of pH are presented and discussed. Furthermore, an overview is given on several used process analytical methods describing the results obtained from the degradation of lignin derivatives. Finally, a promising concept by coupling photocatalysis with a consecutive biocatalytic process was briefly reviewed.

Photocatalytic Active Coatings for Lignin Degradation in a Continuous Packed Bed Reactor

The synthesis of immobilized catalyst on porous glass support material via the sol-gel route is reported. TiO2-P25-SiO2

Evaluation of Photocatalytic Active Coatings on Sintered Glass Tubes by Methylene Blue

A comparative study between ten different photocatalytic active coatings was done. The effectiveness and photocatalytic activity of the coatings were studied by degradation experiments of methylene blue (MB) dye under UV light illumination. The reactor design consisting of sintered glass packed in a borosilicate tube placed between two planar dielectric barrier discharge lamps (Osram Planon) is reported for the first time. The coatings consisted of either titania, silica, or zinc on sintered borosilicate glass. The advantage of sol-gel in catalyst preparation was exploited to combine catalyst to act as cocatalyst. TiO2-P25 widely applied in suspension systems was effectively immobilized on sintered glass support with the aid of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) solution which acted as support material. Results indicated that TiO2-P25