EMPLOYMENT OF SPIN TRAPPING TECHNIQUE TO THE STUDY OF PHOTOCATALYTIC DEHYDROGENATION MECHANISM OF ALCOHOL IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Spin trapping technique was employed to study the mechanism of photocatalyticdehydrogenation of alcohol during in situ irradiation of Rh_2O_3/CdS powder which is sus-pended in aqueous aicohol solution.Evidence for production of ·OH radical is presentedand the rate of·OH radical formation corresponds to the rate of H_2 evolution.On the ba-sis of the above results,it is suggested that water cleavage is an intermediate step in this reac-tion.