Effective liquid-phase photocatalytic reaction using a newly developed titanium oxide-assisted reactor with ozone microbubble treatment

• Photocatalytic mineralization of IPA accelerated by increasing UV light penetration.
• The UV reactor with the nine hollow rods.
• The effectiveness of the reactor for the UV254/TiO2 reaction and O3 microbubble treatment.

We have developed a TiO2-assisted reactor that improved the UV light penetration into the solution during the photocatalytic decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Increasing the UV penetration enhanced the decrease in the concentration of acetone, which is the main IPA decomposition product, and the total organic carbon. However, it did not affect the decrease in IPA concentration. Charging the solution with O3 microbubbles significantly increased mineralization for the first 5 h of the reaction. Our results can be used to improve the efficiency of UV sources and develop an ecologically friendly, practical wastewater treatment for IPA.