A platinised TiO2/ITO film, Pt-TiO2/ITO, was prepared by a dip-coating and subsequent photodeposition procedure. Compared with bare TiO2/ITO film, Pt-TiO2/ITO film not only possesses a relative high photocatalytic activity but also shows a rather non-photocatalytic activity towards HCOOH degradation at room temperature and atmosphere pressure. The non-photocatalytic effect of platinised TiO2 was partly responsible for degradation of formic acid in the photocatalytic process. The non-photocatalytic activity of Pt-TiO2/ITO film is very dependent on its preparation method.

The removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater-containing phenol was investigated using threephase three-dimensional electrode reactor. Special attention was paid to experimentally probe the performance of the reactor in COD removal in the process of repeated batch runs. The experimental results showed that the reactor could remove COD from phenol-containing wastewater much more efficiently than both granulated activated carbon (GAC) adsorption bed and conventional three-dimensional electrode. For 200th batch run, the three-phase three-dimensional electrode reactor with an airflow of 5 1min-1 and a cell voltage of 30 V could remove 1350 ppm COD from the wastewater in 30 min while conventional three-dimensional electrode reactor with a same cell voltage and GAC adsorption bed with a same airflow only could remove 610 and 1000 ppm, respectively, at the same reaction duration. Although it was found that COD removal decreased with increasing repeated batch runs in our experimental range, due to adsorption saturation of GAC and electrode passivation, the extent of decrease for the three-phase three-dimensional electrode is much less than those for conventional three-dimensional electrodes and GAC adsorption beds. The passivated reactor could be partly re-activated by electrolysis in the presence of MnO2.

2-(2-Chlorophenyl)imidazo[4,5-f ]1,10-phenanthroline (CIP) or 2-(2-nitrophenyl)imidazo[4,5-f ]1,10-phenanthroline (NIP) and their complexes [Ru(bpy)2(CIP)]21 and [Ru(bpy)2(NIP)]21 (bpy=2,29-bipyridine) have been synthesized and characterized. The binding of the two complexes to calf thymus DNA has been investigated with spectrophotometric methods and viscosity measurements. The experimental results indicate that the two complexes bind to DNA through a partial intercalative mode that is different from the bonding mode for their parent compound, [Ru(bpy)2(PIP)]21 (PIP=2-phenylimidazo[4, 5-f ]1, 10-phenanthroline). The crystal structure of [Ru(bpy)2(CIP)]-[ClO4]2?2H2O was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis; the imidazo[4, 5-f ]1, 10-phenanthroline moiety is not coplanar with the 2-chlorophenyl ring, having a dihedral angle of 44.58 in the CIP.

Pd-TiO2/ITO films were prepared by a dip-coating and subsequent photo-deposition procedure. The Pd-TiO2/ITO film was well characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and open circuit voltage. It was found that the Pd-TiO2/ITO film not only possessed higher photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic activities, compared with bared TiO2/ITO film, but also showed a certain non-photocatalytic activity towards HCOOH degradation at room temperature and atmosphere pressure. This is the first report about versatile catalytic activities of Pd-TiO2 film.

The application of a small anodic bias can promote the photocatalytic oxidation of formic acid on Cu-TiO2 film. However, the photocatalytic activity was not stable at higher anodic biases or in the process of repeated use due to the electrochemical oxidation of Cu. A new photocatalytic technology with a pulse anodic bias was proposed to tackle the deficiency of the Cu-TiO2 film. It was found that the photocatalytic technology could not only overcome the Cu oxidation but also increased the photocatalytic activity of the Cu-TiO2 film.