Photocatalytic abatement of air pollutants: Focus on their interference in mixtures

0561808 - ÚFCH JH 2024 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Žouželka, Radek - Martiniaková, Ivana - Ducháček, T. - Mužíková, Barbora - Mikysková, Eliška - Rathouský, Jiří
Photocatalytic abatement of air pollutants: Focus on their interference in mixtures.
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-Chemistry. Roč. 434, JAN 2023 (2023), č. článku 114235. ISSN 1010-6030. E-ISSN 1873-2666
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LM2018124; GA MŠMT(CZ) EF16_013/0001821; GA MPO(CZ) FV40209; GA ČR(CZ) GA19-12109S
Grant - others:GA MŠk(CZ) CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_013/0001821; AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/23
Program: StrategieAV
Institutional support: RVO:61388955
Keywords : photocatalysis * TiO2 * NOx
OECD category: Physical chemistry
Impact factor: 4.3, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

Up to now, the research has been mostly devoted to the photocatalytic removal of individual pollutants. As in real situations, the pollutants are always presented in a mixture, it is crucial to know whether there is some sort of interference, which can influence the efficiency of the whole photocatalytic degradation process. Here, we investigated the ability of two commercial coatings (binder-containing FN NANO®2 and binder-free AEROXIDE® TiO2 P25) to abate ozone, nitric oxide, and acetaldehyde separately and in their mixtures. Both photocatalysts effectively removed the pollutants present separately in the air stream, achieving conversions of 30–60 % (at an inlet concentration of 0.1 ppmv), even at the UV-A irradiation intensity as low as 0.05 mW cm−2. Furthermore, the use of binder-containing coating provided stable ozone conversions (30–40 %) in the full range of relative humidity, which is extraordinary in comparison with published data. The kinetic analysis indicates that the degradation mechanisms of nitric oxide, acetaldehyde, and ozone considerably differed. While for nitric oxide the reaction in the adsorbed state played a crucial role, for acetaldehyde and ozone that was marginal. Importantly, owing to the differences in degradation mechanisms, no mutual interference occurred when pollutant mixtures were treated. This finding is of major importance for the application of photocatalysis as environmental technology.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334308