Porous PMMA-titania composites: A step towards more sustainable photocatalysis

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• 作者：Benjamin D. Stewart ; Lee G. Andrews ; Bria S. Pelletier ; Clyde A. Daly Jr. ; Joel E. Boyd ; ^{boyd@erskine.edu" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：Titania ; Polymer ; Composite ; Photocatalysis ; Green chemistry
• 刊名：Journal of Water Process Engineering
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：December 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：8
• 期：Complete
• 页码：179-185
• 全文大小：2049 K

文摘

TiO₂ is an effective photocatalyst for the degradation of aqueous and airborne contaminants when activated by UV light. TiO₂ nanoparticles are often deposited onto the surface of a support material to avoid the need for post-use removal of the nanoscale photocatalyst. Polymers have been shown to be suitable photocatalytic support materials, but solvent based methods for TiO₂ deposition using hazardous organic solvents such as dichloromethane have negative and avoidable environmental repercussions. In this work, green chemistry principles have inspired a new approach to the formation of polymer–TiO₂ composite materials. An existing surfactant-mediated method for the fabrication of porous poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) membranes has been used to form a support material for the photocatalyst while replacing hazardous dichloromethane with the much more benign acetone. The deposition of TiO₂ within the UV-transparent porous support material facilitates the construction of flow-through photocatalytic reactors for both aqueous and gas-phase applications. These systems were characterized by the photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methyl orange and gas phase carbon monoxide, electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption/desorption surface area measurements, as well as long-term UV durability. The porous PMMA-TiO₂ composites possess a methyl orange decolorization rate over 6 times higher than that of the non-porous composite reference materials with comparable TiO₂ content. The porous materials reported here are more active, and have superior TiO₂ retention than the non-porous benchmark materials, and thus provide a greener foundation for future photocatalytic applications.