(173c) Photocatalytic Oxidation Of Indoor Air Pollutants Using Nanostructured TiO2

This paper explores and evaluates the performance of photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) systems with nano-structured Titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the control and destruction of indoor air pollutants. Due to numerous advantages it offers, PCO, or otherwise known as heterogeneous photocatalysis is considered as one of the promising technologies in the field of air disinfection and treatment of organic pollutants in indoor air, including Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). It has been continuously studied in the search for new and improved systems that can work for indoor environments such as large buildings, hospitals, factories, homes, cars and even spacecrafts. Previous studies have revealed that the effectiveness of a PCO system in air cleaning depends on the type of pollutant being treated, configuration and other operating conditions; it is therefore necessary to study an optimum parametric design that can be tailored to a specific indoor application. A PCO configuration is then devised and evaluated for its potential application in a particular indoor air environment.

Key words: heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalytic oxidation, titanium dioxide, volatile organic compounds.