Intensification of photocatalytic pollutant abatement in microchannel reactor using TiO₂ and TiO₂‐graphene

Abstract

A microfluidic device was applied to the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue as a model pollutant. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-P25) and a synthesized composite TiO2-graphene catalyst were immobilized on the inner walls of a borosilicate glass microfluidic chip. The deposition evolution of the nanoparticles was evaluated by monitoring the optical profile of the system. It was found that a higher initial reaction rate was obtained in the microreactor containing composite catalyst (TiO2-GR) on the inner walls, but both systems (TiO2 and TiO2-GR) achieved similar reaction rates when the steady-state was reached. Decolorization rate of methylene blue in our microfluidic chips was found to be approximately one order of magnitude higher than equivalent macroscopic systems reported in the literature at similar experimental conditions. Additionally, computational simulations were performed to investigate the physics involved in these processes. The model was experimentally validated for further scale-out studies.

Dyes Depollution of Water Using Porous TiO2-Based Photocatalysts

“…Li et al 2003). In another work, methylene blue was photodegraded both on TiO2-P25 and TiO2graphène photocatalysts deposited on the walls of a glass chip micro-reactor (Padoin et al 2016). The degradation rate of methylene blue was found to be one order of magnitude higher than with equivalent macroscopic reactor.…”

Designing Microflowreactors for Photocatalysis Using Sonochemistry: A Systematic Review Article

“…Different microreactors have been developed to upsurge the reaction efficiency [63], such as micro-capillary reactors [64], single-microchannel reactors [18,65], and planar reactors, although it’s photocatalytic, as well as energy efficiency, still needs to be improved [66]. In a review article, Heggo et al discussed the work of different researchers to attain high throughput.…”

Facile preparation of hierarchical heterostructured TiO2/Bi/Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst for phocatalytic degradation of toluene gas

“…TiO 2 is a traditional semiconductor photocatalytic material with strong adsorption and self‐cleaning properties that is widely used for environmental pollution control, as an antibacterial and anti‐mildew, and to eliminate odors and prevent ultraviolet rays 16‐18 . The disadvantage is that it has a wide band gap and can only respond to ultraviolet (UV) rays with higher energy 19, 20 . In order to use solar energy more efficiently, the idea of using multiple‐band‐gap cells to capture a larger proportion of the solar spectrum has inspired much work in the field of photovoltaic solar cells or photocatalysis 21, 22 .…”