• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.40-45
• /
• 2007

Methylene blue(MB) was photocatalytically degraded with one-body photoanode and solar simulator to investigate the possible application to both environmental purification and photoelectrochemical cell for hydrogen production. Photoactive titanium dioxide was formed on both sides of Ti plate following steps such as rinsing-annealing-calcination or anodizing(20 V, 30 V)-annealing($350^{\circ}C$, $450^{\circ}C)$ after etching. The prepared titania plate($2cm{\times}2\;cm$, ca 1.6 mg $TiO_2$ on the basis of $1\;{\mu}m$ thickness) was used to degrade MB(10 ppm in 200 mL solution). The reaction tended to follow the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics with zero order. Comparative experiments with Degussa P25 showed the same zero order kinetics when 2 mg of P25 had been used, while the first order kinetics when 200 mg used. This concludes the feasibility of the prepared titania plate as a material for the purification of low-level harmful organics and an electrode or a membrane for photoelectrochemical system for hydrogen production.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.66-72
• /
• 2008

The photocatalytic degradation of a textile diazo dye in aqueous solution has been investigated under Solar and UV-A light. The effect of various parameters such as concentration of dye, amount of catalyst and pH on the degradation of dye has been studied. Addition of hydrogen peroxide, ammonium persulphate and isopropanol strongly influences the degradation rate. Kinetic analysis of photodegradation reveals that the degradation follows approximately pseudo first order kinetics according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. Carbon dioxide, nitrate and sulphate ions have been identified as mineralisation products. The photocatalyst ZnO was found to be more efficient in UV-A light than in Solar light.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.213-223
• /
• 2018

Continuous input into the aquatic ecosystem and persistent structures have created concern of antibiotics, primarily due to the potential for the development of antimicrobial resistance. Degradation kinetics and mineralization of vancomycin B (VAN-B) by photocatalysis using $TiO_2$ and ZnO nanoparticles was monitored at natural pH conditions. Photocatalysis (PC) efficiency was followed by means of UV absorbance, total organic carbon (TOC), and HPLC results to better monitor degradation of VAN-B itself. Experiments were run for two initial VAN-B concentrations ($20-50mgL^{-1}$) and using two catalysts $TiO_2$ and ZnO at different concentrations (0.1 and $0.5gL^{-1}$) in a multi-lamp batch reactor system (200 mL water volume). Furthermore, a set of toxicity tests with Daphnia magna was performed to evaluate the potential toxicity of oxidation by-products of VAN-B. Formation of intermediates such as chlorides and nitrates were monitored. A rapid VAN-B degradation was observed in ZnO-PC system (85% to 70% at 10 min), while total mineralization was observed to be relatively slower than $TiO_2-PC$ system (59% to 73% at 90 min). Treatment efficiency and mechanism of degradation directly affected the rate of transformation and by-products formation that gave rise to toxicity in the treated samples.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.255-259
• /
• 2014

In this research, we compared the COD removal efficiencies of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) thin films coated on the surfaces of borosilicate glass that prepared by three different numbers of coating layer; i) 3 layers ii) 4 layers and iii) 5 layers by sol-gel method. All of the prepared $TiO_2$ thin films consisted of pure anatase crystalline structure with grain sizes in the range 20-250 nm. The calculated optical band gaps of the $TiO_2$ thin films were 3.24. The total apparent surface area per total weight of $TiO_2$ thin films were 4.74, 3.86 and $2.79m^2g^{-1}$ for 3, 4 and 5 layers coating, respectively. The kinetics of the photodegradation reactions of COD under UVA light source were described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model. The specific rates of the photodegradation of $TiO_2$ thin films at 3 layers coating was $1.40{\times}10^{-4}min^{-1}mW^{-1}$, while for the 4 layers coating and the 5 layers coating were $1.50{\times}10^{-4}$ and $4.60{\times}10^{-4}min^{-1}mW^{-1}$, respectively. The photocatalytic performance of COD degradation was higher with smaller grain size, higher surface area and narrow optical band gaps. Moreover, the numbers of coating layer on substrate also have great influence for kinetic of COD removal.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.28 no.11
• /
• pp.1951-1957
• /
• 2007

A new synthetic strategy based on the acid-base catalyzed sol-gel method was developed for the preparation of a series of mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles. A key feature of the method involves a gradual change in pH (0.8- 9) during the sol-gel transition, which guarantees easy introduction of mesoporosity without relying on the well-established sonochemical or template approach. In addition, this method leads to the exclusive formation of the anatase phase stable enough to the calcination temperature up to 600 oC. The physicochemical properties of the particles in the series were characterized by various spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as wide-angle XRD, SAXRD, BET surface area, FE-SEM, TEM, FT-IR, TGA, and XPS. The photocatalytic efficiency of these materials was investigated for the oxidation of toluene under UV-irradiation. All but T-ad in the series exhibited high photocatalytic activity pushing the reaction into completion within 3 h. The reaction followed the first order kinetics, and the rate reaches as high as 3.9 × 10?2/min which exceeds the one with the commercially available Degussa P-25 by a factor of 3.2. When comparison is made among the catalysts, the reactivity increases with increase in the calcination temperature which in turn increases the crystallinity of the anatase phase, thus revealing the following rate orders: T-3 < T-4 < T-5 < T-6.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.8
• /
• pp.822-828
• /
• 2005

The photocatalytic degradation of methyl parathion was carried out using a circulating $TiO_2$/solar system. Under the photocatalytic condition, parathion was more effectively degraded than by the photolysis or $TiO_2$ only condition. The parathion degradation followed pseudo first-order kinetics. With photocatalysis, 10 mg/L parathion was completely degraded within 90 min with a TOC decrease exceeding 63% after 150 min. The nitrogen from parathion was recovered mainly as ${NO_2}^-$, ${NO_3}^-$, and ${NH_4}^+$, 80% of sulfur as ${SO_4}^{2-}$, and less than 5% of phosphorus as ${PO_4}^{3-}$ during photocatalysis. The organic intermediates 4-nitrophenol and paraoxon were also identified, and these were further degraded. Two different bioassays using V. fischeri and D. magna were employed to measure the toxicity reduction in the solutions treated by both photocatalysis and photolysis. Relative toxicity was reduced almost completely after 150 min in both organisms under the photocatalysis, whereas in photolysis, 76 and 57% reduction was achieved for V. fischeri and D. magna, respectively. The acute toxicity reduction pattern corresponded with the decrease in parathion and TOC concentrations.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.261-268
• /
• 2012

Objectives: The photocatalytic degradation of toluene in a batch mode photoreactor for the purpose of the hazardous waste treatment was investigated. Methods: Kinetic experiments using a low pressure mercury lamp (Lambda Scientific Pty Ltd, 50 Watt) emitting both UV and visible light were performed at $31^{\circ}C$ over toluene concentrations ranging from 10 to 50 mg/l in water with $50%TiO_2/6%WO_3$ (TW) concentration of 1 g/l at a pH of 6. Results: Kinetic studies showed that $50%TiO_2/6%WO_3$ (TW) photocatalyst was highly active in toluene degradation; we observed that 99% of the pollutant was degraded after six hours under visible irradiation; furthermore, we observed that adsorption onto TW catalyst was responsible for the decrease of toluene with pseudo-first order kinetics. It was also found that oxygen as a radical source in the sol medium played a significant role in affecting the photodegradation of toluene, especially with a two-fold elevation. This increase was achieved by a more than four-fold elevation of the photodegradation of toluene in the presence of acetone than without, presumably via an energy transfer mechanism. Conclusions: We concluded that photodegradation in acetone and oxygen molecules along with TW was an effective method for the removal of toluene from wastewater.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.15 no.7
• /
• pp.677-688
• /
• 2006

Currently, the application of $TiO_2$ photocatalyst has been focused on purification and treatment of wastewater. However, the use of conventional $TiO_2$ slurry photocatalyst results in disadvantage of stirring during the reaction and of separation after the reaction. And the usage of artificial UV lamp has made the cost of photocatalyst treatment system high. Consequently, we studied that solar light/$TiO_2$ film system was designed and developed in order to examine disinfection characteristics of sewage wastewater treatment. The optimum conditions for disinfection such as solar light intensity, characteristic of sewage wastewater, amounts of $TiO_2$ and comparison of solar ligth/$TiO_2$ systems with UV light/$TiO_2$ system was examined. The results are as follows: (1) photocatalytic disinfection process with solar light in the presence of $TiO_2$ film more effectively killed total coliform (TC) than solar light or $TiO_2$ film absorption only. (2) The survival ratio of TC and residual ratio of organic material (BOD, CODcr) decreased with remain resistant material. (3) The survival ratio of TC and residual ratio of organic material (BOD, CODcr) decreased with the increase of amounts of $TiO_2$. (4) TC survival ratio decreased linearly with increasing UV light intensity. (5) The disinfection effect of solar light/$TiO_2$ slurry system decreased more than UV light/$TiO_2$ film systems. (6) The disinfection reaction followed first-order kinetics. We suggest that solar light instead of using artificial UV light was conducted to investigate the applicability of alternative energy source in the disinfection of TC and the degradation of organic material.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.491-496
• /
• 2017

The hydrogen($H_2$) is promising energy carrier of renewable energy in the microgrid system such as small village and military base due to its high energy density, pure emission and convenient transportation. $H_2$ can be generated by photocatalytic water splitting, gasification of biomass and water electrolysis driven by solar cell or wind turbine. Solid oxide electrolysis cells(SOECs) are the most efficient way to mass production due to high operating temperature improving the electrode kinetics and reducing the electrolyte resistance. The SOECs are consist of nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia(NiO-YSZ) fuel electrode / YSZ electrolyte / lanthanum strontium manganite-YSZ(LSM-YSZ) air electrode due to similarity to Solid Oxide Fuel Cells(SOFCs). The Ni-YSZ most widely used fuel electrode shows several problems at SOEC mode such as degradation of the fuel electrode because of Ni particle's redox reaction and agglomeration. Therefore Ni-YSZ need to be replaced to an alternative fuel electrode material. In this study, We studied on the Double perovskite $PrBrMnO_{5+{\delta}}$(PBMO) due to its high electric conductivity, catalytic activity and electrochemical stability. PBMO was impregnated into the scaffold electrolyte $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}Ga_{0.85}Mg_{0.15}O_{3-{\delta}}$(LSGM) to be synthesized at low temperature for avoiding secondary phase generated when it exposed to high temperature. The Half cell test was conducted at SOECs and SOFCs modes.