A Photochemical Reactor for the Study of Kinetics and Adsorption Phenomena

This article describes the design of a photochemical reactor intended to carry out experiments illustrating the fundamentals of heterogeneous photochemistry. The photodegradation kinetics of brilliant green (C₂₇H₃₃N₂•HSO₄) in a TiO₂ dispersion under near-UV radiation is presented as a simple experimental example of the use of this reactor, intended for postgraduate students of physical chemistry. An actinometry experiment, using a standard chemical actinometer, potassium ferrioxalate, is discussed. Several additional suggestions have been made to extend the use of this reactor for educational purposes, for example, the study of the influence of surfactants on the photodegradation of dyes with low solubility such as malachite green.