(478a) Nanocarbon-TiO2 Composites for Photocatalytic Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerenes, and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) have been coupled with TiO2 and the resulting photocatalytic activities have shown marked improvements. However, current design of nanocarbon-based TiO2 photocatalyst is still limited by the lack of in-depth understanding of their coupling mechanisms. Here, we investigate the photocatalytic activity of the CNT/TiO₂ and RGO/TiO₂ nanocomposite films in the degradation of acetaldehyde in a batch reactor under different conditions. In particular, the effect of initial pollutant concentration, catalyst film thickness, relative humidity, light intensity and wavelength, and type of substrate (and adhesion of film) on the photocatalytic degradation reaction of acetaldehyde will be presented. The expected synergistic effect and efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in the synthesized nanocomposites have been verified. Our results show that the synergistic effect of nanocarbon is not evident in composites with physical interactions between TiO2 and nanocarbon. Interrelationships between properties of nanocarbon-TiO2 photocatalysts obtained from electron microscopic and spectroscopic characterization and photocatalytic activity have been established.