tert butyl methyl ether ar 99.5 octane booster in gasoline. It is made from blending chemicals such as isobutylene and methanol, and has been used since the 1980s as an additive for unleaded gasolines to achieve more efficient burning.
The degradation of aqueous methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) at relatively high concentrations was investigated by various photo-induced oxidation processes such as UV/H2O2 and UV/TiO2 as well as biological processes and their combination. It was shown that the degradation of MTBE by UV/H2O2 and TiO2 photocatalytic followed a first-order model with apparent rate constant of 1.31×10−1 and 1.21×10−2 min-1, respectively. It was observed that UV/H2O2/TiO2 process did not have any advantages over each of the other processes alone.
MTBE is used as a fuel component in fuel for gasoline engines. It is one of a group of chemicals commonly known as oxygenates because they raise the oxygen content of gasoline.
