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Titanium doxide is an extremely versatile photocatalyst that can be employed in a wide range of reactions used in environmental decontamination, such as, CO₂ and nitric oxide oxidation among many. Not surprisingly new ways to employ this flexible system are developed every year.

Recently, a large amount of research in this field focused on improving the characteristics of the support used for the catalyst, with the aim to enhance its performances or adapt to specific reaction conditions.

In this same context, the group led by Tsuyoshi Ochiai developed a procedure to easily fabricate catalytic filter material based on chemically etched titanium sheets impregnated with titanium dioxide for applications in air- and water-decontamination.

This new titanium mesh was fabricated by applying a layer of resist on both sides of a titanium sheet followed by chemical etching. The pattern of the pores could easily be controlled during the application of the resist layer, allowing to great control in the mesh structure. The finished structure was further modified to be finally coated with TiO2 anatase sol-gel.

The material was then tested against commercial titanium mesh coated following the same procedure in the photocatalytic (UV light promoted) degradation of acetaldehyde at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, revealing the superior performances of the new material, the measured rate constant of the group`s titanium mesh being 2.5 times higher than the commercial one.

The activity of the material was also assessed in water and determined with a mehylene blue decolorisation test. The purification performance both in air and water did not decrease over repeated tests, indicating a good adhesion of the TiO₂ nanoparticles onto the surface of the mesh. Tests performed without irradiation resulted in no reaction, proving the photocatalytic nature of the process.

The  increased activity of the new coated titanium mesh has been ascribed by the authors to the good morphology of their material, with its highly ordered structure of interconnected macropores and the crystallinity of the TiO₂ coating.

Continue reading this communication here or access the ESI here.

Fabrication of a TiO2 nanoparticles impregnated titanium mesh filter and its application for environmental purification
Tsuyoshi Ochiai, Toru Hoshi, Houda Slimen, Kazuya Nakata, Taketoshi Murakami, Hiro Tatejima, Yoshihiro Koide, Ammar Houas, Takuji Horie, Yuko Morito and Akira Fujishima
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00185J, Communication