PPS Blog

Issue 3 of PPS has been published online. This issue is a collection of papers presented at the 6th European meeting on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications (SPEA6), which was held in Prague, Czech Republic, in June 2010, and was organized by Josef Krysa and Jaromýr Jirkovsky. The issue is guest edited by Josef Krysa and Sixto Malato.

The cover of the issue features a paper by Rudolf Słota and coworkers on photocatalysis by TiO₂ composites with phthalocyanines and porphyrins. They show the importance of matching the sensitizer to the nature of the TiO₂ (micro- or nanocrystalline).

Also in the issue, Maria Antoniadou and Panagiotis Lianos have made a photoactivated fuel cell that uses organic waste to produce electricity. They tested the system on a number of polyols, but suggest that almost any organic substance can be used. The cell uses UVA light, and can run on the UV component of sunlight.

These papers and the rest of the issue can be read online now.

The February 2011 issue of PPS has been published online. This issue contains the 2010 assessment from the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel of the the United Nations Environment Programme.

The papers in the issue review the latest research on the depletion of the ozone layer and the effects of UV radiation on human health, the environment and materials.

In the 1980s the “ozone hole” was big news and “slip, slop, slap and wrap” and similar campaigns have been heavily promoted in some parts of the world, so it is very interesting reading in the report how effective the Montreal Protocol has been, with the mid-latitude ozone predicted to reach pre-1980 levels by the middle of this century.

Climate change is, of course, not the same as ozone depletion, but the two atmospheric phenomena can’t exist in isolation and the report discusses their interactions. Although the ozone layer is recovering, the report points out that changes in climate (e.g. cloud cover, pollution, other aerosols) also affect the amount of UV-B that reaches the Earth’s surface. Because future climate change is less certain, this means that the effects of UV on health and the environment are still difficult to predict.

Full reports from UNEP have been published every four years (the last was in the March 2007 issue of PPS), and PPS has also published annual progress reports.

As well as the detailed papers, the issue also includes an Executive summary and a FAQ.

Read the whole issue now.