A review of prospects and challenges of photocatalytic decomposition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under humid environment

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are harmful for humans and the surrounding ecosystem. Emissions from these pollutants have caused a significant reduction in air quality, which has an effect on people's health. Alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, aromatics, and other VOC pollutants have all been broken down by TiO2 photocatalytic processes. Due to several operating inefficiencies and deactivation issues in humid environments, the practical application of photocatalysis has not been realized on a broader scale. The effectiveness of photo‐oxidation of VOCs is impacted by a variety of environmental conditions. In the photocatalytic oxidation of the VOCs, relative humidity (RH) is critical. Therefore, it is important to review the recent findings on how humidity affects the photocatalytic breakdown of VOCs in air. To satisfy this need, this work provides a critical review of the related literature with focus on the fundamentals of photocatalysis, photocatalytic degradation of air pollutants, and the influence of humidity on the photocatalytic process degradation for selected air pollutants. It also highlights the kinetic models and typical photocatalytic reactor and supports for VOC removal.

From Design to Applications: A Comprehensive Review on Porous Frameworks for Photocatalytic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Removal

“…For instance, Leung et al discussed the aspects of catalyst immobilization technology and reactor design for the elimination of VOCs, [10] whereas Masresha and coworkers substantiated the role of humidity in photocatalytic degradation of airborne VOCs. [11] On the other hand, Bian and coworkers reviewed the TiO 2 -based systems for photocatalytic VOC oxidation, [12] and Almaie et al reviewed different types of photocatalysts for VOC removal. [13] Compared to these, a comprehensive review of tunable porous networks viz.…”

Kinetic Modeling of the Photocatalytic Degradation of Chlorinated Aromatic Volatile Organic Compounds: Mass Transfer Enhancement

“…The desorption and diffusion processes of VOCs and their by-products are typically negligible, and steady-state kinetic models often overlook the mass transfer effects. Thus, the adsorption of the pollutant and the oxidation reaction are usually described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) theory [23][24][25][26]. In this study, a continuous-tangential-flow photoreactor is employed to assess the impact of the mass transfer on the degradation of CB and CN at industrial concentrations.…”