• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2013

Transparent $TiO_2$ films in various thicknesses were prepared by sol-gel and MOCVD method, respectively, and their photocatalytic activities in decomposing gaseous 2-propanol were evaluated. The surfaces and grain structures of the prepared films were characterized by FESEM, XRD, and AFM. It was found that the photocatalytic activities of $TiO_2$ films were greatly dependent on the film thickness and surface roughness: The photocatalytic activity increases with the increase of film thickness, while it decreases with the increase of surface roughness. We have proposed that these phenomena originate from the transfer of photogenerated electron and hole pairs from the bulk to the surface of $TiO_2$ film. Several experimental evidences supporting this mechanism have also been provided.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.223-229
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• 2022

A porous photocatalyst concrete filter was successfully produced to remove NOx, by mixing TiO₂ photocatalyst with lightweight aerated concrete. Ultra Fine Bubbles were used to form continuous pores inside the porous photocatalytic concrete filter, which was mixed via a bubble generation experiment. The optimal mixing condition was determined to be with 4 % of the bubble generation agent B. NO removal specimens were prepared for various photocatalytic loading conditions, and the specimen containing 3 % P-25 removed NO at a concentration of 1.03 µmol in 1 h. The NO removal rate of the porous photocatalytic concrete filter prepared in this study was 10.99 %. This photocatalytic filter performance was more than 9 times the amount of NO removed by a general photocatalytic filter. The porous photocatalyst concrete filter for removing NOx developed in this study can be applied to various construction sites and the air quality can be solved by reducing NOx contributing to the formation of fine particles.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.296-300
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• 2007

This paper presents applicability of photocatalytic decomposition of methyl mercaptan using $TiO_2$. A quartz reactor was used in order to elucidate reaction pathway in photocatalytic decomposition of methyl mercaptan. Experimental results showed that more than 99.9% of methyl mercaptan was decomposed within 30 minutes. It was found that the photocatalytic decomposition of methyl mercaptan followed pseudo first order and its reaction coefficient was $0.05min^{-1}$ During 30 minutes in the photocatalytic reaction, the concentration of methyl mercaptan, dimethyl disulfide, $SO_2$, $H_2SO_4$, COS, $H_2S$ were determined. These results showed that 64% of methyl mercaptan were compensated for the increase in sulfur after 30 minutes through the mineralization. The proposed main photocatalytic decomposition pathway of methyl mercaptan was methyl $mercaptan{\rightarrow}dimethyl$ $disulfide{\rightarrow}SO_2{\rightarrow}H_2SO_4$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.621-626
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• 2009

Fe-AC/Ti$O_2$ photocatalysts were prepared by a sol-gel method. The photocatalytic properties of Fe-AC/Ti$O_2$ photocatalysts for the purification of water have been investigated. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), specific surface area (BET), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation of methylene blue (MB) solution. It was found that the prepared Fe-AC/Ti$O_2$ composites have an excellent photocatalytic under visible light irradiation. A small amount of Fe ions in the AC/Ti$O_2$ composites could obviously enhance their photocatalytic activity. The high activities of the Fe-AC/Ti$O_2$ composites could be attributed to the results of the synergetic effects of the enhancement of the Fe element, the photocatalytic activity of Ti$O_2$, and the adsorption of AC.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2013

Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) nanofibers containing different amounts of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) have been prepared by electrospinning technique. Photocatalytic activity of these electrospun PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers and the effect of $TiO_2$ content on the photocatalytic efficiency of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers have been evaluated by monitoring the photodecomposition of fluorescein dye, rhodamine B and methylene blue under UV irradiation with respect to irradiation time. Moreover, the effect of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) on the photocatalytic behavior of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers has also been investigated. The results showed that PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers are effective photocatalyst and their photocatalytic efficiency increases with the increase of $TiO_2$ content in the PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers. It is also observed that the presence of $H_2O_2$ significantly enhances the photocatalytic ability of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers. The morphology and the photocatalytic behavior of the PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers containing different amounts of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles have been investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV/Visible spectroscopy, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2013

A selected halogenated organic contaminant, monochlorophenol was successfully degraded by photocatalytic reaction in a circulating batch system. The photocatalytic degradation in most cases follows first-order kinetics. The photocatalytic reaction rate increased in the $TiO_2$ dosage range of 0.1 g/L to 0.4 g/L, then decreased with further increase of the dosage. Also the degradation rate increased over the range of the retention time from 0.49 min. to 0.94 min., then decreased with further increase of the retention time in the circulating batch reactor. The photocatalytic activity was enhanced by addition of metal impurities, platinum(Pt) and palladium(Pd) onto the photocatalysts. The photocatalytic degradation rate increased with the increase of Pt and Pd in the content range of 0 to 2wt %, then decreased with further increase of the metal contents. Therefore the metal loading to $TiO_2$ influence the degradation rate of a halogenated organic compound by acting as electron traps, consequently reducing the electron/positive hole pair recombination rate.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.E2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2001

Recent development of photocatalytic degradation method that is mediated by TiO$_2$ is of interest in the treatment of volatile organic compounds(VOCs). In this study, trichloroethylene(TCE) and acetone were closely examined in a batch scale of photo-reactor as a function of water vapor, oxygen, and temperature. Water vapor inhibited the photocatalytic degradation of acetone, while there was an optimum concentration in TCE. A lower efficiency was found in nitrogen atmosphere than air, and the effect of oxygen on photocatalytic degradation of acetone was greater than on that of TCE. The optimum reaction temperature on photocatalytic degradation was about 45$^{\circ}C$ for both compounds. NO organic byproducts were detected for both compounds under the present experimental conditions. It was ascertained that the photocatalytic reaction in a batch scale of photo-reactor was very effective in removing VOCs such as TCE and acetone in the gaseous phase.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.185-197
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• 2019

Deactivation of porous photocatalytic materials was studied using three types of microstructured particles: macroporous titania particles, titania microspheres, and porous silica microspheres containing CNTs and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. All particles were synthesized by emulsion-assisted self-assembly using micron-sized droplets as micro-reactors. During repeated cycles of the photocatalytic decomposition reaction, the non-dimensionalized initial rate constants (a) were estimated as a function of UV irradiation time (t) from experimental kinetics data, and the results were plotted for a regression according to the exponentially decaying equation, $a=a_0\;{\exp}(-k_dt)$. The retardation constant ($k_d$) was then compared for macroporous titania microparticles with different pore diameters to examine the effect of pore size on photocatalytic deactivation. Nonporous or larger macropores resulted in smaller values of the deactivation constant, indicating that the adsorption of organic materials during the photocatalytic decomposition reaction hinders the generation of active radicals from the titania surface. A similar approach was adopted to evaluate the activation constant of porous silica particles containing CNT and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles to compare the deactivation during recycling of the photocatalyst. As the amount of CNTs increased, the deactivation constant decreased, indicating that the conductive CNTs enhanced the generation of active radicals in the aqueous medium during photocatalytic oxidation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.248-249
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• 2014

Photocatalytic cement is receiving attention due to its high oxidation power that oxidizes nitrogen oxides (NOx), thus contributing to clean atmospheric environment. However, there has not been a thorough investigation on durability of a parent material, cementitious material, as a result of photocatalytic reactions. In this study, durability of photocatalytic cementitious materials exposed to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) gas was examined. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles containing cement paste samples were exposed to cycles of NO₂ with UV light, followed by wetting and drying to simulate environmental condition. The surface of samples was characterized mechanically, chemically, and visually during the cycling. The results indicate that the photocatalytic efficiency decreased with continued NO₂ oxidation due to calcium carbonate formation. The pits found from SEM demonstrate that chemical deterioration have occurred, such as acid attack or leaching. In conclusion, the photocatalytic reactions and its product could alter cementitious materials chemically and mechanically which could further affect long-term durability.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.952-959
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• 2012

The photocatalytic reactor was designed to have improved efficiency by enhancing a light intensity of photocatalytic reactor using a reflector coated on the surface at the outer radius of annular shaped photocatalytic reactor. The improved photocatalytic reactor performed to treat waste air containing malodor and VOC with the enhanced light intensity, of which the effect on their removal efficiency was investigated. The intensities of illumination of the improved photocatalytic reactor filled with porous silica-based media and nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst were observed to increase by 28.5% and 30.1%, respectively, compared to those of photocatalytic reactor without any reflector. Using the improved photocatalytic reactor filled with porous silica-based media and nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst, the removal efficiencies were enhanced by 2~3% and insignificantly, respectively. The removal efficiencies of the optimized photocatalytic reactor with reflectors, filled with porous silica-based media carrying photocatalyst, were observed to increase by 26% and 60%, compared to those of photocatalytic reactor (i.e., 19% and 53%), without any reflector, filled with nonporous glass bead media carrying photocatalyst, for hydrogen sulfide and toluene, respectively. The roughness of used reflector surface was measured to be ca. four times as big as that of a commercial mirror. However, their removal efficiencies are expected to be enhanced by increasing an light intensity resulting from lowering the roughness of used reflector coated on the improved photocatalytic reactor in the future.