Photocatalytic elimination of indoor air biological and chemical pollution in realistic conditions

The photocatalytic elimination of microorganisms from indoor air in realistic conditions and the feasibility of simultaneous elimination of chemical contaminants have been studied at laboratory scale. Transparent polymeric monoliths have been coated with sol-gel TiO 2 films and used as photocatalyst...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez, Benigno, Sánchez-Muñoz, Marta, Muñoz-Vicente, María, Cobas, Guillermo, Portela, Raquel, Suárez Gil, Silvia, González Becerra, Aldo E., Rodríguez, Nuria, Amils, Ricardo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/114140
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/114140
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:VOC
Supported TiO2
Indoor air
Disinfection
Bioaerosols
Photocatalysis
Descripción
Sumario:The photocatalytic elimination of microorganisms from indoor air in realistic conditions and the feasibility of simultaneous elimination of chemical contaminants have been studied at laboratory scale. Transparent polymeric monoliths have been coated with sol-gel TiO 2 films and used as photocatalyst to treat real indoor air in a laboratory-scale single-step annular photocatalytic reactor. The analytical techniques used to characterize the air quality and analyze the results of the photocatalytic tests were: colony counting, microscopy and PCR with subsequent sequencing for microbial quantification and identification; automated thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection for chemical analysis. The first experiments performed proved that photocatalysis based on UVA-irradiated TiO 2 for the reduction of the concentration of bacteria in the air could compete with the conventional photolytic treatment with UVC radiation, more expensive and hazardous. Simultaneously to the disinfection, the concentration of volatile organic compounds was greatly reduced, which adds value to this technology for real applications. The fungal colony number was not apparently modified. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.