Influence of inlet concentration and light intensity on the photocatalytic oxidation of nitrogen(II) oxide at the surface of Aeroxide® TiO2 P25

Air pollution by nitrogen oxides represents a serious environmental problem in urban areas where numerous sources of these pollutants are concentrated. One approach to reduce the concentration of these air pollutants is the light-induced oxidation in the presence of molecular oxygen and a photocatalytically active building material, e.g., paints, roof tiles, or pavement stones. Herein, results of an investigation concerning the photocatalytic oxidation of nitrogen(II) oxide (NO) in the presence of molecular oxygen and UV(A) irradiated TiO2 powder are presented. The standard operating procedure described in ISO 22197-1 which was developed to characterize the photocatalytic activity of air-cleaning products was successfully applied to determine the photocatalytic activity of a bare TiO2 powder. The experimental data reveal that at the light intensity stipulated by the operation procedure the amount of NO removed from the gas phase by photocatalytic oxidation is strongly affected by small changes of this light intensity as well as of the NO concentration in the gas stream in the photoreactor. Therefore, these parameters have to be controlled very carefully. Based upon the experimental data obtained in this study a rate law for the photocatalytic NO oxidation inside the photoreactor is derived. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.