TABLE OF CONTENTS
 page

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S ......... .................................................................................... iii

LIST OF TABLES .............................. ......... .... ..... .. .... ....... ....... vi

L IST O F F IG U R E S .... ...... ................................................ .. .. ..... .............. vii

ABSTRACT ........ .............. ............. ...... .......... .......... ix

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION .................. .................................... ............ ..................

2 LITERA TURE REVIEW ............................................................... ............4

 2.1 H eterogeneous Photocatalysis ........................... ....... .................................. 4
 2.2 Titanium D dioxide .................. ................................ ....... .. .......... .. 8
 2 .3 R actor D design ..................................................... 11
 2.4 C analyst Supports ....................................................... .... ... ........ .. 13
 2.5 Silica-Titania Composites ......... ................... ......... .. .... .............. 16
 2.5.1 Sol-Gel Chem istry......................... ...... .. ....... ........ ....... 18
 2.5.2 Surface Chemistry and Adsorption Characteristics .................................... 22

3 M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS ............................................................................25

 3.1 Silica-Titania Com posites ......... .. ................. ................. ... ....................... 25
 3.2 Batch Performance Studies .......... ........ ................. ... .............. 26
 3.3 Colum n Perform ance Studies ........................................... .......................... 28

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................30

 4.1 D ye Com prison ......... ..................... ... ........... ......... ........... 30
 4.2 Optimization of Gels ........... ...... .. ..... .... .. .............. .......... 34
 4.2.1 Titania Loading .................................... ........ ... .. .......... .. 34
 4.2.2 Curing Temperature ........... .... ............... .................... 40
 4.2.3 Pore Size ........ ....................... ...................... ........... 43
 4.3 Column Studies ........................................................................ .... ......... .................. 44