Thesis

Environmental remediation and semiconductor photocatalysis

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2010
Thesis identifier
  • T12585
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Abstract
  • Detailed studies of three areas of environmental remediation techniques which utilise semiconductor photocatalytic technologies were undertaken. These areas were: oxidation of solid inorganic contaminant layers deposited on titania (TiO₂); oxidation of inorganic gas species by ultraviolet-illuminated titania; and factors affecting wettability changes (photoinduced superhydrophilicity, PSH) on illuminated titania. Soot and elemental sulfur layers, deposited onto sol-gel derived and P25 TiO₂ films were found to be completely removed upon illumination with UV light; carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide were detected in stoichiometric quantities as the only gas-phase oxidation products. Sulfur dioxide was trapped using an irradiated flow-cell set-up, with the resulting gas-species trapped and determined by the West-Gaeke method. Remote photocatalysis of soot layers was also investigated, with results suggesting that hydroxyl radicals are potentially not the primary migratory species responsible for remote photocatalysis. Further work concentrating on the photocatalytic oxidation of SO₂ in a static cell system containing a TiO₂ film was also carried out, with production of SO₃ and poisoning of the photocatalyst observed. The photocatalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide was also assessed, initially using sol-gel TiO₂ films before platinised films and polymerphotocatalyst matrices were assessed. The flexible polymer films were found to be degraded by the photocatalyst - including those developed using fluoropolymers - at the expense of oxidative photocatalytic activity. The final part focused on repeatable experiments involving PSH - including the use of a novel environmental chamber to vary atmospheric conditions during illumination, and experiments into droplet composition and recovery of contact angle - in order to further investigate the possible mechanism(s) behind the phenomenon.
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DOI
Date Created
  • 2010
Former identifier
  • 814404

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