Tubular Reactor Synthesis of Doped Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide and Its Enhanced Activation by Coronas and Soft X-rays

An aerosol tubular reactor system to synthesize nanostructured vanadium-doped titanium dioxide particles is described. The resultant particle size distributions, crystal phases, and morphology and distribution of dopant are established as a function of the operating conditions. The addition of the dopant promotes sintering and an increase in the primary particle size. Downstream of the furnace, a corona−soft X-ray reactor is used to demonstrate the effectiveness in degradation of toluene. An improvement in the degradation rates is observed when soft X-ray irradiation is used in conjunction with the corona. Addition of the V-dopant enhanced the photodegradation of toluene.