Applications and future perspectives of photocatalytic coatings for air purification and self cleaning

• Main Author: Lee, Tong Xin
• Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5356/1/1701892_FYP_Report_%2D_TONG_XIN_LEE.pdf; http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5356/

The availability of safe and clean air is one of the most pressing worldwide challenges today. Air pollution will cause severe toxicological repercussions for human health and the ecology. As a result, an effective air purification and selfcleaning technology are required to address the air pollution dilemma. Photocatalytic coating has been the subject of numerous investigations since it appears to be a potential solution for air treatment in the next decades. This study presented a comprehensive and detailed review of recently published publications on the use of photocatalytic coating in the treatment of air. From the review findings on current photocatalytic coating achievements and technologies, air contaminants' removal effectiveness is mostly by using titanium dioxide. Modified titanium dioxide by doping containing metal or nonmetal can also enhance the photocatalytic coating efficiency by reducing the conduction band or increasing the valance band; thereby, the bandgap is minimised. For most of the pollutants found in the air, the removal effectiveness was greater than 80%. Furthermore, this study described recent photocatalytic coating developments in air purification and self-cleaning as well as photocatalytic coating's potential in the future development to address the challenges of environmental requirements. This study also revealed the shortcomings and limitations of recently published articles, along with recommendations for uncovering areas that have yet to be studied. Due to the fact that most of the publications were conducted on a bench-scale without attempting to scale up the treatment process to a larger extent, this research underlined the urgent need to adopt titanium dioxide nanoparticles at an industrial scale to meet the environmental criteria. Furthermore, more research into visible light design was encouraged.