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http://dx.doi.org/10.7464/ksct.2022.28.4.285

Development of Metal Oxide-based Photocatalyst Coated on Activated Carbon for Removing Volatile Organic Compounds  

Jae-Rak, Ko (Department of Chemical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University)
Yewon, Jang (Department of Chemical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University)
Ho Young, Jun (Department of Chemical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University)
Hwan-Jin, Bae (TaeKang Co., Ltd.)
Ju-Hyun, Lee (TaeKang Co., Ltd.)
Chang-Ho, Choi (Department of Chemical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University)
Publication Information
Clean Technology / v.28, no.4, 2022 , pp. 285-292 More about this Journal
Abstract
Adsorption tower systems based on activated carbon adsorption towers have mainly been employed to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major cause of air pollution. However, the activated carbon currently used in these systems has a short lifespan and thus requires frequent replacement. An approach to overcome this shortcoming could be to develop metal oxide photocatalysis-activated carbon composites capable of degrading VOCs by simultaneously utilizing photocatalytic activation and powerful adsorption by activated carbon. TiO2 has primarily been used as a metal oxide photocatalyst, but it has low economic efficiency due to its high cost. In this study, ZnO particles were synthesized as a photocatalyst due to their relatively low cost. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on the ZnO surface to compensate for the photocatalytic deactivation that arises from the wide band gap of ZnO. A microfluidic process was used to synthesize ZnO particles and Ag NPs in separate reactors and the solutions were continuously supplied with a pack bed reactor loaded with activated carbon powder. This microfluidic-assisted pack bed reactor efficiently prepared a Ag-ZnO-activated carbon composite for VOC removal. Analysis confirmed that Ag-ZnO photocatalytic particles were successfully deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. Conducting a toluene gasbag test and adsorption breakpoint test demonstrated that the composite had a more efficient removal performance than pure activated carbon. The process proposed in this study efficiently produces photocatalysis-activated carbon composites and may offer the potential for scalable production of VOC removal composites.
Keywords
Metal oxide photocatalysis; Volatile organic compounds (VOCs); Activated carbon; Microfluidics;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 9  (Citation Analysis)
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