Response to Comment on “Intimate Coupling of Photocatalysis and Biodegradation for Degrading Phenol Using Different Light Types: Visible Light vs UV Light”

Abstract

In his comment, Cates (1) believes that Er 3+ :YAlO 3 is not capable of emitting significant amounts of UV via upconversion and the UV may be "artefactual"; (2) suspects that the LED light source may include emissions tailing into the UV range. Accordingly, we provide more detailed results regarding fluorescence spectrum, light source spectrum and photocatalytic activity of Er 3+ :YAlO 3 /TiO 2 at the following two aspects to debate Cates's query.

Main parameters influencing the design of photocatalytic reactors for wastewater treatment: a mini review

“…Thus, the efficiency of photocatalytic processes is generally controlled by the rate of formation of hydroxyl radicals 8 . In the last years, different topics were the object of research aimed mainly to increase the pollutants degradation rate: (i) improvement of the catalyst properties (for example, shifting the photoactivity into the visible light region); 9–13 (ii) use of more efficient artificial light sources (LEDs and optical fibers) and solar light; 8,14–19 (iii) use of macroscopic supports for recovering the photocatalyst after the process; –24 and (iv) optimization of photoreactor configuration 8 . Such aspects have been investigated extensively from an experimental point of view.…”