Visible light sensitization of titanium dioxide by copper phthalocyanine

The dye Cu-Phthalocyanine-3, 4′, 4″ , 4″′ tetrasulsonic acid tetrasodium salt (Cu-TSPc) dye was used to sensitize colloidal titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) to visible light. The photocatalytic efficiency of the TiO₂/Cu-TSPc complex was tested in the photodegradation of chlorobenzene gas. For example, the chlorobenzene photodegradation rate was enhanced from 55 ± 11%, for TiO₂, to 84 ± 14%, for TiO₂/Cu-TSPc, under visible light conditions. To prove the photocatalytic activity of the of the TiO₂/Cu-TSPc complex, the Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra within the region from 2500 cm−1 to 2200 cm−1 was recorded. This was used to determine the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) produced during the photocatalysis reaction. In 200 minutes, 131 μL of carbon dioxide was produced by 20 μL of chlorobenzene over a TiO₂/Cu-TSPc pellet illuminated with visible light. Also, the stability of the TiO₂/Cu-TSPc was tested using FT-IR spectroscopy. After 20 hours of visible light irradiation, the FT-IR spectra of the TiO ₂/Cu-TSPc complex showed no changes.