• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 2016

Objective: Different methods have been utilized to prevent enamel demineralization and other complications during orthodontic treatment. However, none of these methods can offer long-lasting and effective prevention of orthodontic complications or interventions after complications occur. Considering the photocatalytic effect of $TiO_2$ on organic compounds, we hoped to synthesize a novel bracket with a $TiO_2$ thin film to develop a photocatalytic antimicrobial effect. Methods: The sol-gel dip coating method was used to prepare $TiO_2$ thin films on ceramic bracket surfaces. Twenty groups of samples were composed according to the experimental parameters. Crystalline structure and surface morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively; film thickness was examined with a surface ellipsometer. The photocatalytic properties under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation were analyzed by evaluating the degradation ratio of methylene blue (MB) at a certain time. Antibacterial activities of selected thin films were also tested against Lactobacillus acidophilus and Candida albicans. Results: Films with 5 coating layers annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ showed the greatest photocatalytic activity in terms of MB decomposition under UV light irradiation. $TiO_2$ thin films with 5 coating layers annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ exhibited the greatest antimicrobial activity under UV-A light irradiation. Conclusions: These results provide promising guidance in prevention of demineralization by increasing antimicrobial activities of film coated brackets.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.1035-1040
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• 1999

Photocatalytic degradation of trichloroethylene has been carried out with UV-illuminated $TiO_2$-coated pyrex reactor in gas phase. Three commercial $TiO_2$ oxides were used as catalysts. The effect of reaction conditions, initial concentration of trichloroethylene, concentration of oxidant and light intensity on the photocatalytic activity were examined. Anatase-type catalyst showed higher activity than rutile-type, but P-25 catalyst showed the highest activity. The degradation rate increased with the decrease of flow rate and initial trichloroethylene concentration. It was preferable to use air as an oxidant. In addition, reactants with the water vapor decreased the activity and the degradation rate increased with the increase of light intensity, but it was very low with solar light. Photocatalytic deactivation was not observed at low concentration of trichloroethylene.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.316-321
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• 2018

Composites of P25 $TiO_2$ and hexagonal $WO_3$ nanorods are synthesized through ball-milling in order to study photocatalytic properties. Various composites of $TiO_2/WO_3$ are prepared by controlling the weight percentages (wt%) of $WO_3$, in the range of 1-30 wt%, and milling time to investigate the effects of the composition ratio on the photocatalytic properties. Scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy are performed to characterize the structure, shape and size of the synthesized composites of $TiO_2/WO_3$. Methylene blue is used as a test dye to analyze the photocatalytic properties of the synthesized composite material. The photocatalytic activity shows that the decomposition efficiency of the dye due to the photocatalytic effect is the highest in the $TiO_2/WO_3$ (3 wt%) composite, and the catalytic efficiency decreases sharply when the amount of $WO_3$ is further increased. As the amount of $WO_3$ added increases, dye-removal by adsorption occurs during centrifugation, instead of the decomposition of dyes by photocatalysts. Finally, $TiO_2/WO_3$ (3 wt%) composites are synthesized with various milling times. Experimental results show that the milling time has the best catalytic efficiency at 30 min, after which it gradually decreases. There is no significant change after 1 hour.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.117-124
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• 2010

Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) particles deposited on different quantitative Fe-treated carbon nanotube (CNT) composites with high photocatalytic activity of visible light were prepared by a modified sol-gel method using TNB as a titanium source. The composites were characterized by BET, XRD, SEM, TEM and EDX, which showed that the BET surface area was related to the adsorption capacity for each composite. From TEM images, surface and structural characterization of for the CNT surface had been carried out. The XRD results showed that the Fe-ACF/$TiO_2$ composite mostly contained an anatase structure with a Fe-mediated compound. EDX results showed the presence of C, O, and Ti with Fe peaks in the Fe-CNT/$TiO_2$ composites. The photocatalytic activity of the composites was examined by degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under visible light, which was found to depend on the amount of CNT. The highest photocatalytic activity among the different composites was related to the optimal content of CNT in the Fe-CNT/$TiO_2$ composites. In particular, the photocatalytic activity of the Fe-CNT/$TiO_2$ composites under visible light was better than that of the CNT/$TiO_2$ composites due to the introduction of Fe particles.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.340-347
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• 2021

Among various metal oxide semiconductors, ZnO has an excellent electrical, optical properties with a wide bandgap of 3.3 eV. It can be applied as a photocatalytic material due to its high absorption rate along with physical and chemical stability to UV light. In addition, it is important to control the morphology of ZnO because the size and shape of the ZnO make difference in physical properties. In this paper, we demonstrate synthesis of size-controlled ZnO tetrapods using an atmospheric pressure plasma system. A micro-sized Zn spherical powder was continuously introduced in the plume of the atmospheric plasma jet ignited with mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. The effect of plasma power and collection sites on ZnO nanostructure was investigated. After the plasma discharge for 10 min, the produced materials deposited inside the 60-cm-long quartz tube were obtained with respect to the distance from the plume. According to the SEM analysis, all the synthesized nanoparticles were found to be ZnO tetrapods ranging from 100 to 600-nm-diameter depending on both applied power and collection site. The photocatalytic efficiency was evaluated by color change of methylene blue solution using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity increased with the increase of (101) and (100) plane in ZnO tetrapods, which is caused by enhanced chemical effects of plasma process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.817-822
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• 2008

In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in TiO$_2$ particles-dispersed water solution was carried out by irradiating microwave and UV light simultaneously. A microwave-discharged electrodeless UV lamp was developed to use microwave and UV simultaneously for photocatalytic reactions. The results of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue showed that the decomposition rate increased with the microwave intensity, the circulating fluid velocity, and the amount of TiO$_2$ particles and auxiliary oxidizing agents added. Especially, the rate constant of H$_2$O$_2$-added photocatalytic reaction increased about three times from 0.0075 min$^{-1}$ to 0.0250 min$^{-1}$ when microwave was additionally irradiated. This study demonstrates that the microwave irradiation can play a very important role in photocatalytic degradation using peroxides although it is not easy to quantitatively assess the effect of microwave on photocatalytic reactions from the experimental data of this study.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2021

Recently, there has been increasing demand for advancing photocatalytic techniques that are capable of the efficient removal of organic pollutants in water. TiO₂, a representative photocatalytic material, has been commonly used as an effective photocatalyst, but it is rather expensive and an alternative is required that will fulfill the requirements of both high performing photocatalytic activities and cost-effectiveness. In this work, ZnO, which is more cost effective than TiO₂, was synthesized by using a microreactor-assisted nanomaterials (MAN) process. The process enabled a continuous production of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a flower-like structure with high uniformity. In order to resolve the limited light absorption of ZnO arising from its large band gap, Ag NPs were uniformly decorated on the flower-like ZnO surface by using the MAN process. The plasmonic effect of Ag NPs led to a broadening of the absorption range toward visible wavelengths. Ag NPs also helped inhibit the electron-hole recombination by drawing electrons generated from the light absorption of the flower-like ZnO NPs. As a result, the Ag-ZnO nanocomposites showed improved photocatalytic activities compared with the flower-like ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the successful synthesis of Ag-ZnO nanocomposites with high uniformity. Ag-ZnO nanocomposites synthesized via the MAN process offer the potential for cost-effective and scalable production of next-generation photocatalytic materials.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.311-320
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• 2020

In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) was carried out under visible light irradiation using CdS and CdZnS/ZnO photocatalysts prepared by a simple precipitation method. This study focused on examining the effect of physicochemical properties of dye and photocatalyst on the reaction pathway of photocatalytic degradation. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, UV-vis DRS and XPS. Both the CdS and CdZnS/ZnO photocatalysts exhibit an excellent absorption in the visible light and the UV light regions. It was observed that the photocatalytic degradation of MO proceeds via the same reaction mechanism on both the CdS and CdZnS/ZnO photocatalysts. However, the photocatalytic degradation of RhB and MB was found to proceed through a different reaction pathway on the CdS and CdZnS/ZnO catalysts. It is interesting to note that MB dimer was formed on the CdS catalyst at the beginning of the photocatalytic reaction, while the MB monomer was degraded during the overall photocatalytic reaction on CdZnS/ZnO. The above results may be mainly ascribed to the difference of band edge potential of the conduction band in the CdS and CdZnS/ZnO semiconductors and the adsorption property of dye on the catalysts.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.60-68
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• 1995

This work wes performed to investigate the photocatalytic decolorization of waste water from textile industries. Methyl orange was used as a target dye with suspended Hombikat TiO$_2$ photocatalyst with a recirculating annular photoreactor. 1 wt % Pt-doped Hombikat thin film tubular reactor with parabolic reflector also wes usedin this experiment. The pH effect and flow rate effect on photobleaching of 0.012 g/l methyl orange solution, AtpH=3 Colour of methyl orange was completely bleached in 30 min with a 20 W UV lamp.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.175-177
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• 2001