• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 2015

The effects of ion-doping on $TiO_2$ nanotubes were investigated to obtain the optimal catalyst for the effective decomposition of Rhodamine B (RB) through UV photocatalytic oxidation process. Changing the calcination temperature, which changed the weight fractions of the anatase phase, the average crystallite sizes, the BET surface area, and the energy band gap of the catalyst, affected the photocatalytic activity of the catalyst. The ionic radius, valence state, and configuration of the dopant also affected the photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic activities of the catalysts on RB removal increased when $Ag^+$, $Al^{3+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ were doped into the $TiO_2$ nanotubes, whereas such activities decreased as a result of $Mn^{2+}$ or $Ni^{2+}$ doping. In the presence of $Zn^{2+}$-doped $TiO_2$ nanotubes calcined at $550^{\circ}C$, the removal efficiency of RB within 50 min was 98.7%.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2004

This study has been numerically conducted to investigate the removal efficiency of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) for different photocatalytic honeycomb filters. Recently, the photocatalysis is being applied to air-cleaner, air-conditioner and vacuum-cleaner with the capability of air-purification, sterilization and antibiosis. However, photocatalysis is less efficient than other methods for removing VOC except in the case of low concentration. So far most of studies have focused on an improvement of the photocatalytic materials, but this study have placed emphasis on the improvements of shape of photocatalytic honeycomb filter. UV irradiation, concentration profile and pressure drop have been investigated for different cross sections of filters and for different filter lengths. Light intensity is dropped sharply with increasing distance from the UV-lamp, and becomes very low in the middle of the filters. Since photocatalytic reaction rate is a function of light intensity, VOC concentration gradient might be small in the middle of long filters. Thus, most of reaction have risen within only three times of dimensionless axial distance. These results can be used effectively for the design of advanced photocatalytic honeycomb filters.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.597-604
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• 2020

In the present study, the application of sequential biological and photocatalytic process was evaluated as a feasible process for the degradation of imidacloprid (IMI) in soil. Photocatalysis was carried out as a post and pre-treatment to the biological process as Microbial Photocatalytic (MP) and Photocatalytic Microbial (PM), respectively, to enhance the degradation and mineralization of IMI in soil. By both the processes, there was an enhancement in the percentage degradation of IMI i.e 86.2% for PM and 94.6% for MP process. The obtained results indicate that MP process is apparently more efficient in degradation of IMI which was observed with 15 days of biological treatment followed by 18 h of photocatalytic degradation (15 d + 18 h). The present work also reveals that though the difference in terms of the degradation of IMI after 5 d + 18 h, 10 d + 18 h & 15 d+ 18 h of MP process is not drastic, yet significant variation has been observed in terms of mineralization that truly signifies the removal of IMI from the soil. The LC analysis has shown that the intermediates formed during MP process are more and smaller in comparison to PM process, which further provides evidence that MP process is better than PM process for effective degradation of IMI in soil.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.48-54
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• 2002

Since photocatalysts are activated by lights of UV wavelengths, plasma is alternatively used as a light source for a photocatalytic reactor. Light intensity generated by plasma is proportional to the surface area of catalytic material, and this, in many practical applications, is prescribed by the geometry of a plasma generator. Thus, it is crucial to increase the surface area far sufficient light intensity for photocatalytic reaction. For example, in a pack-bed type reactor, multitudes of beads are used as a substrate in order to increase the surface area. Honeycomb monolith type substrate, which has very good surface area to volume ratio, has been difficult to apply plasma as a light source due to the fact that light penetration depth through the honeycomb monolith was too short to cover sufficient area, thus resulting in poor intensity for photocatalytic reaction. In this study, nonthermal plasma generation through a photocatalytic reactor of honeycomb monolith substrate is investigated to lengthen this short penetration depth. The ceramic honeycomb monolith substrate used in this study has the same length as a three way catalyst used fur automotive applications, and it is shown that sufficient light intensity for photocatalytic reaction can also be obtained with honeycomb monolith type reactor.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.688-693
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• 2008

This paper presents a study on the photocatalytic reaction about the composite particles of $TiO_2$-coated phosphors under visible light irradiation. Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide layers were directly coated on the alkaline earth aluminate phosphor, $CaAl_2O_4:Eu^{2+},\;Nd^{3+}$ particles by an sol-gel processing method. The photocatalytic reaction was analyzed with the degradation of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution under UV and visible light irradiations. $TiO_2$-coated phosphor powders showed different photocatalytic mechanism, compared with pure $TiO_2$ (P-25, Degussa). Under UV-irradiation, $TiO_2$-coated phosphor powders showed slow photocatalytic reactivity in the early stage and fast in the latter, compared with that of pure $TiO_2$. However, $TiO_2$-coated phosphor powders showed much faster photocatalytic reactivity than that of pure $TiO_2$ under visible irradiation. In addition, the characterizations of the $TiO_2$-coated phosphor powders were conducted by a X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1063-1068
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• 2008

The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue water solution was carried out by irradiating microwave and UV light simultaneously using $TiO_2$ photocatalyst balls prepared by Chemical Vapor Deposition method. 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 auxiliary oxidizing agents added. Especially, the rate constant of $H_2O_2$-added photocatalytic reaction increased about three times from $0.0061min^{-1}$ to $0.0197min^{-1}$ 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2016

$TiO_2$ nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel process using titanium tetra isopropoxide as a precursor at room temperature. Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared by photoreduction of $AgNO_3$ on $TiO_2$ under UV light irradiation and calcinated at $400^{\circ}C$. Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were characterized for their structural and morphological properties by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic properties of the $TiO_2$ and Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were evaluated according to the degree of photocatalytic degradation of gaseous benzene under UV and visible light irradiation. To estimate the rate of photolysis under UV (${\lambda}=365nm$) and visible (${\lambda}{\geq}410nm$) light, the residual concentration of benzene was monitored by gas chromatography (GC). Both undoped/doped nanoparticles showed about 80 % of photolysis of benzene under UV light. However, under visible light irradiation Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles exhibited a photocatalytic reaction toward the photodegradation of benzene more efficient than that of bare $TiO_2$. The enhanced photocatalytic reaction of Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles is attributed to the decrease in the activation energy and to the existence of Ag in the $TiO_2$ host lattice, which increases the absorption capacity in the visible region by acting as an electron trapper and promotes charge separation of the photoinduced electrons ($e^-$) and holes ($h^+$). The use of Ag-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles preserved the option of an environmentally benign photocatalytic reaction using visible light; These particles can be applicable to environmental cleaning applications.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.80-86
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• 2013

In this study, the photocatalytic reactor system equipped with photocatalyst-carrying-silica-media cartridges [photocatalytic reactor system (1)] was used to perform the treatment of waste air containing malodor and volatile organic compound (VOC). The result of its performance was evaluated and compared with that of the photocatalytic reactor system equipped with commercial photocatalyst-carrying-nonwoven filter-media cartridges [photocatalytic reactor system (2)]. In case of photocatalytic reactor system (1), at the 1st stage of run the removal efficiencies of ethanol and toluene continued to be 80% and 20%, respectively. However, unlike toluene, the removal efficiency of ethanol dropped to 40% at the end of the 1st stage of run. The removal efficiency of hydrogen sulfide decreased from 100% to 90%. At the 2nd stage of its run the removal efficiency of ethanol decreased to 10% while the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and toluene remained as same as 90% and 20%, respectively, even though the inlet load of toluene increased by factor of four. In the 3rd stage of its run, as the result of application of aluminium-coated reflector film to the inner wall of photocatalytic reactor system, the removal efficiencies of ethanol and toluene increased by 5% to be 15% and 25%, respectively. In case of photocatalytic reactor system (2), at the 1st stage of its run, the removal efficiencies of ethanol, hydrogen sulfide and toluene continued to be 10%, 97% and 100%, respectively. However, at 2nd stage of its run their removal efficiencies became 5%, 95% and 2~3%, respectively, which showed that the removal efficiencies of ethanol and hydrogen sulfide decreased insignificantly while the removal efficiency of toluene dropped significantly from the perfect elimination. Moreover, the reflector film did not affect the performance of photocatalytic reactor system (2) at all. Therefore the removal of ethanol, hydrogen sulfide and toluene by photocatalytic reactor system (2) was mainly attributed to hydrophobic adsorption of its nonwoven filter media and its extent of photocatalytic removal turned out to be negligible, compared to that of photocatalytic reactor system (1).

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.168-178
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• 2017

$La/TiO_2$ - graphene composites were synthesized in this study, and applied to the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV-visible light irradiation. X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis demonstrated that $La/TiO_2$ nanoparticles were well distributed on the surface of graphene, and formed the heterostructure of $La/TiO_2$-graphene. Compared to the pure $TiO_2$, $La/TiO_2$-graphene composites displayed much higher photocatalytic activities in RhB degradation under UV-visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic data of $La/TiO_2$-graphene composites exhibit extended light absorption in the visible light region, and possess better charge separation capability than that of pure $TiO_2$. The high photocatalytic activity was attributed to the composite's high adsorptivity, extended light absorption, and increased charge separation efficiency, due to the excellent electrical properties of graphene, and the large surface contact between graphene and $La/TiO_2$ nanoparticles.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.144-151
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• 2009

Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution was investigated using $TiO_2$ coated on various acid modified activated carbon fiber (ACF). The ACFs/$TiO_2$ composites were prepared from titanium n-butoxide (TNB) as titanium precursor and various acid modified ACFs. The prepared samples are heat treated at 973 K. Then the ACF/$TiO_2$ composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Moreover, photocatalytic degradation of MB by the ACF/$TiO_2$ composites was determined under UV irradiation. The results shows that the photocatalytic activity of ACF/$TiO_2$ composites ($AT1{\sim}AT4$) prepared with TNB and various acid modified ACF was much better than that of ACF/$TiO_2$ composite (AT) prepared with TNB and non-acid modified ACF, and the effects improved with order of sample AT3 > AT4 > AT1 > AT2.