• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.10
• /
• pp.1129-1135
• /
• 2005

In this study. the applicability of a rotating reactor for the oxidative removal of aqueous humic substances extracted from the Han River in Seoul, Korea was investigated. As air blowing for proper mixing of $TiO_2$ photocatalyst could inhibit UV-irradiation between a UV lamp and photocatalyst by air bubbles, a rotating reactor with some baffles was used for better UV-irradiation effect in this study. Han River humic substances are different from the other commercial humic substances(e.g., from Aldrich and International Humic Substance Society). Their characteristics were investigated with structural and spectroscopic analyses using FT-IR(Fourier transform-infrared), and $^{13}C$-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance). The humic substances were extracted by XAD-7HP and treated with $TiO_2$-coated hollow beads under UV-A and UV-C irradiation in order to solve problems of separation and recovery of photocatalyst after reaction. At approximately 5 mg/L of initial TOC concentration, pH 3 and $2.0\;g-TiO_2/L$ dose, photocatalytic oxidation of Han River humic substances showed the optimum removal efficiency. Also, UV-C and UV-A lamps showed similar TOC removal efficiency. However, under UV-C irradiation, Han River humic substances were degraded to smaller compounds and increased the proportion of low molecular weight fractions compared to UV-A.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.116-120
• /
• 2013

Characteristics of photocatalytic CO removal process conducting CO conversion by using Pt loaded $TiO_2$ photocatalyst were investigated in a photocatalytic tubular reactor. Effects of Pt loading method onto $TiO_2$, linear velocity of gas stream containing CO gas, CO concentration and moisture content in the gas stream on the conversion of CO to $CO_2$ were examined. It was found that the CO gas could be removed almost 100% by using photocatalytic tubular reactor internally coated with Pt/$TiO_2$ photocatalyst under UV irradiation, when the linear velocity of gas stream was in the range of 0.01~0.25 m/s and CO concentration in the gas stream was ranged from 20 to 100 ppm and the relative humidity of the gas stream was in the range of 20~40%. The conversion of CO gas decreased gradually with increasing linear velocity of gas stream and CO concentration in the gas stream. The moisture in the gas stream could promote the removal of CO gas by means of the generation of OHradicals.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.91-99
• /
• 2008

A multilayer tower-type photoreactor, in which $TiO_2$-coated glass-tubes were installed, was used to measure the vapor-phase BTEX removal efficiencies by ozone oxidation ($O_3$/UV), photocatalytic oxidation ($TiO_2$/UV) and the combination of ozone and photocatalytic oxidation ($O_3/TiO_2$/UV) process, respectively. The experiments were conducted under various relative humidities, temperatures, ozone concentrations, gas flow rates and BTEX concentrations. As a result, the BTEX removal efficiency and the oxidation rate by $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system were highest, compared to $O_3$/UV and $TiO_2$/UV system. The $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system accelerated the low oxidation rate of low-concentration organic compounds and removed organic compounds to a large extent in a fixed volume of reactor in a short time. Therefore, $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system as a superimposed oxidation technology was developed to efficiently and economically treat refractory VOCs. Also, this study demonstrated feasibility of a technology to scale up a photoreactor from lab-scale to pilot-scale, which uses (i) a separated light-source chamber and a light distribution system, (ii) catalyst fixing to glass-tube media, and (iii) unit connection in series and/or parallel. The experimental results from $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system showed that (i) the highest BTEX removal efficiencies were obtained under relative humidity ranging from 50 to 55% and temperature ranging from 40 to $50^{\circ}C$, and (ii) the removal efficiencies linearly increased with ozone dosage and decreased with gas flow rate. When applying Langmuir-Hinshelwood model to $TiO_2$/UV and $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system, reaction rate constant for $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system was larger than that for $TiO_2$/UV system, however, it was found that adsorption constant for $O_3/TiO_2$/UV system was smaller than that for $TiO_2$/UV system due to competitive adsorption between organics and ozone.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.285-292
• /
• 2022

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.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.190-196
• /
• 2007

Dye sensitized solar cells(DSSC) are the most promising future energy resource due to their high energy efficiency, low production cost, and simple manufacturing process. But one problem in DSSC is short life time compared to silicon solar cells. This problem occurred from photocatalytic degradation of dye material by nanometer sized $TiO_2$ particles. To prevent dye degradation as well as to increase its life time, the transparent coating film is needed for UV blocking. In this study, we synthesized nanometer sized $TiO_2$ particles in sols by increasing its internal pressure up to 200 bar in autoclave at $120^{\circ}C$ for 10 hrs. The synthesized $TiO_2$ sols were all formed with brookite phase and their particle size was several nm to 30 nm. Synthesized $TiO_2$ sols were coated on the backside of fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO) glass by ink jet printing method. With increasing coating thickness by repeated ink jet coating, the absorbance of UV region (under 400 nm) also increases reasonably. Decomposition test of titania powders dispersed in 0.1 mM amaranth solution covered with $TiO_2$ coating glass shows more stable dye properties under UV irradiation, compared to that with as-received FTO glass.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.121-131
• /
• 2014

Due to the high UV light scattering effect of Zinc oxide (ZnO), it is frequently used in sunscreen skincare products. Recently ZnO coated with silica has been used in cosmetics to improve UV protection, texture, decreased photocatalytic activity, dispersibility and stability of the skin care product. In this study, we developed a ZnO composite powder coated with silica for the future application to skincare products to block UV rays that could cause photoaging. To improve consumer's satisfaction rating, we used ZnO microparticles which are widely used in the cosmetics industry. The silica was coated using hydrothermal method with sodium silicate and acid hydrolysis. UV protection of the composite powder was analyzed by UV-Vis and in-vitro test and the advantages for practical use of this powder as a skincare product were determined.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.11 no.8
• /
• pp.690-696
• /
• 2001

$TiO_2$ coated coal fly ash has been prepared in order to develop the low price $TiO_2$ photocatalyst and spread out its utilizing field. $TiO_2$ particles is coated on the surface of coal fly ash by precipitation method. In this method, $TiCl_4$ aqueous solution was used as a titanium stock solution and $NH_4HCO_3$ was used as a precipitant. The titanium hydroxide precipitated on the surface of coal fly ash in these neutralizing reaction process was oxidized by heat treatment in temperature ranges of $300~700^{\circ}C$. The crystal structure of the generated titanium dioxide showed anatase type. The crystal size of titanium dioxide increased with raising the temperature of heat treatment, but the removal ability of NO gas decreased. When the titanium dioxide was heated at temperature ranges of $300~ 400^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours, the crystal size of titanium dioxide appeared about 9nm, and the removal rate of NO gas showed 85~ 92%. The whiteness of $TiO_2$ coated coal fly ash increased with raising the coating rate of titanium dioxide and the temperature of heat treatment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.540-547
• /
• 2021

Background: Indoor air pollutants are caused by a number of factors, such as coming in from the outside or being generated by internal activities. Typical indoor air pollutants include nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide from household items such as heating appliances and volatile organic compounds from building materials. In addition there is carbon dioxide from human breathing and bacteria from speaking, coughing, and sneezing. Objectives: According to recent research results, most indoor air pollution is known to be greatly affected by internal factors such as burning (biomass for cooking) and various pollutants. These pollutants can have a fatal effect on the human body due to a lack of ventilation facilities. Methods: We fabricated a polydopamine (PDA) layer with Ti substrates as a coating on supported glass fiber fabric to enhance its photo-activity. The PDA layer with TiO₂ was covalently attached to glass fiber fabric using the drop-casting method. The roughness and functional groups of the surface of the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric were verified through infrared imaging microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The obtained hybrid Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric was investigated for photocatalytic activity by the removal of ammonia and an epidermal Staphylococcus aureus reduction test with lamp (250 nm, 405 nm wavelength) at 24℃. Results: Antibacterial properties were found to reduce epidermal staphylococcus aureus in the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric under 405 nm after three hours. In addition, the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric of VOC reduction rate for ammonia was 50% under 405 nm after 30 min. Conclusions: An electron-hole pair due to photoexcitation is generated in the PDA layer and transferred to the conduction band of TiO₂. This generates a superoxide radical that degrades ammonia and removes epidermal Staphylococcus aureus.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.56-62
• /
• 2016

A heterogeneous $Bi_2S_3/TiO_2$ composite catalyst was synthesized via a green ultrasonic-assisted method and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM analysis. The results clearly show that the $TiO_2$ particles were homogenously coated with $Bi_2S_3$ particles, indicating that $Bi_2S_3$ particle agglomeration was effectively inhibited after the introduction of anatase $TiO_2$. The Texbrite BA-L (TBA) degradation rate constant for $Bi_2S_3/TiO_2$ composites reached $8.27{\times}10^{-3}min^{-1}$ under visible light, much higher than the corresponding value of $1.04{\times}10^{-3}min^{-1}$ for $TiO_2$. The quantities of generated hydroxyl radicals can be analyzed by DPCI degradation, which shows that under visible light irradiation, more electron-hole pairs can be generated. Finally, the possible mechanism for the generation of reactive oxygen species under visible-light irradiation was proposed as well. Our result shows the significant potential of $Bi_2S_3$-semiconductor-based $TiO_2$ hybrid materials as catalysts under visible light for the degradation of industry dye effluent substances.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.223-230
• /
• 2002

Titania photocatalytic oxidation reactors were studied to investigate degradation efficiencies of hydrocarbons. In general, it is well known phenomena that thin layered titania oxidizes most of hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water under UV light. In this study, degradation efficiencies were measured due to changes in reactor structures, UV sources, the number of titania coatings, and various hydrocarbon chemicals. It was proven that gas degradation efficiencies are related to such factors as UV transmittance of coating substance, collision area of surface, and gas flow rate. For packing type annular reactor, about 98% degradation efficiency was achieved for achieved for propylene of 500 ppm level at a flow rate of 100 ml/min. Several gases were also tested for double-coated titania thin film under the condition of continuous flow of 100 ml/min and 365 nm UV source. It was shown that degradation efficiencies were decreasing in the order: $C_3$ $H_{6}$, n-C$_4$ $H_{10}$, $C_2$ $H_4$, $C_2$ $H_2$, $C_{6}$ $H_{6}$ and $C_2$ $H_{6}$./. 6/./.