Deposition of Hybrid Photocatalytic Layers for Air Purification using Commercial TiO2 Powders

[en] Photocatalytic nanomaterials, using only light as the source of excitation, have been developed for the breakdown of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air for a long time. It is a tough challenge to immobilize these powder photocatalysts and prevent their entrainment with the gas stream. Conventional methods for making stable films typically require expensive deposition equipment and only allow the deposition of very thin layers with limited photocatalytic performance. The present work presents an alternative approach, using the combination of commercially available photocatalytic nanopowders and a polymer or inorganic sol–gel-based matrix. Analysis of the photocatalytic degradation of ethanol was studied for these layers on metallic substrates, proving a difference in photocatalytic activity for different types of stable layers. The sol–gel-based TiO2 layers showed an improved photocatalytic activity of the nanomaterials compared with the polymer TiO2 layers. In addition, the used preparation methods require only a limited amount of photocatalyst, little equipment, and allow easy upscaling.

Disciplines :

Chemical engineering
Materials science & engineering

Author, co-author :

Cosaert, Ewoud; Université de Gand

Wolfs, Cédric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Chemical engineering

Lambert, Stéphanie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering > Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Electrochemistry

Heynderickx, Géraldine; Université de Gand

Poelman, Dirk; Université de Gand

Language :

English

Title :

Deposition of Hybrid Photocatalytic Layers for Air Purification using Commercial TiO2 Powders

Publication date :

2021

Journal title :

Molecules, Special Issue Hybrid Materials for Advanced Applications

eISSN :

1420-3049

Volume :

Pages :

6584

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Available on ORBi :

since 19 January 2022

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