Influence of environmental temperature and relative humidity on photocatalytic oxidation of toluene on activated carbon fibers coated TiO

Abstract

TiO₂ supported on active carbon fiber (TiO₂/ACF), an absorbable photocatalyst, is a new kind of material applied in air purification. In this paper, the influence of environmental temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) on the gas-solid adsorption of toluene and the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) efficiency of adsorbed toluene on TiO₂/ACF were studied, and then, the purification capability of TiO₂/ACF was estimated. PCO results showed that although the PCO efficiency increased under high RH and T levels, the amount of adsorption of toluene decreased. Moreover, quantitative analysis results of intermediates indicated that more environmental risk emerged when PCO of toluene was carried out at higher environmental T and RH levels because more toxic intermediates would be accumulated on the TiO₂/ACF. So, it is significant to control the environmental T and RH conditions in the application of the PCO technique. T = 25°C and RH = 30% is the optimal condition for purifying toluene in our experimental system.

Keywords

environmental temperature / relative humidity / TiO₂/ACF / photocatalytic oxidation / toluene