Surfactants were photodegraded in TiO2 suspensions under UV irradiation. The photodegradation mechanism of chemical structures of surfactants, the time scale in the photooxidative decomposition and the intermediate products were investigated. Various surfactants are widely used in domestic and industrial fields. However, they are not easily biodegraded through bacteria and are accumulated in the nature of alkylphenylpolyoxyethylene which generates toxic intermediates of alkylphenol derivatives which are immiscible in water during biodegradation. Since the cationic surfactant exhibits antimicrobial activity, the biodegradation is poor. The other strategy of this study is also a harvest of photocurrent during the transformation process.
