Author(s)

Th. Maggos, A. Katsanaki, Ch. Vasilakos, A. G. Kontos & P. Falaras

Abstract

Construction materials that incorporate into their structures photocatalysts are found to exhibit a capacity in removing NO from air. Therefore, the development of such innovative materials with both de-soiling and de-polluting properties is a significant step towards the improvement of indoor and outdoor air quality. It is the purpose of this study to investigate the photocatalytic removal of dominant urban air pollutant (NO) using TiO2-modified ceramic tiles under both static and dynamic conditions. The activity of 4 types of these materials was investigated in an environmental chamber (0.125m3) under a realistic level of irradiation, humidity and compound amount with reference to a typical urban air pollutant concentration. The photocatalytic performance of the materials was evaluated through the calculation of two parameters: the a) photocatalytic decomposition percentage (PD %) and the b) photocatalytic rate (PR μg m-2 s-1) Results showed that building materials, such as ceramic tiles, when treated with different layers of 10% TiO2, can be used for the photocatalytic removal of air pollutants under \“real” world conditions. A NO degradation percentage high as 75%, and a decomposition rate the size of 0.65 μg m-2 s-1 were reported for the 4-layer TiO2 material under static mode, whereas the corresponding parameters were found to be 50% and 0.63 μgm-2s-1 respectively in the dynamic system. Overall, it was exhibited that the PR parameter presented the same trend and level under both operational modes for all materials, whereas the %PD parameter displayed higher values when studied under static mode. Keywords: photocatalytic building material, TiO2, NOx, VOCs, air purification.

Keywords

photocatalytic building material, TiO2, NOx, VOCs, air purification.