Performance and mechanism of the controllable gaseous ClO2 generation with modified sepiolite-based porous materials

ClO2 is a strong oxidizing fungicide widely used to protect people from bacterial diseases. It is of great urgency to develop a safe, fast and easy-to-use ClO2-based antimicrobial material to safeguard people's lives and health. In this work, the cheap natural porous ore sepiolite is adopted and modified by FeCl3 and AlCl3 as acidic activators. Several characterizations suggested the unchanged morphology and bond structure but the enlarged pore size improved the ClO2-releasing amount, which could reach to 13,903 mu g with 25 % FeCl3-sepiolite and 12,670 mu g with 15 % AlCl3-sepiolite. The separated FeCl3/AlCl3-sepiolite and NaClO2-sepiolite effectively extended the ClO2 releasing life. Meanwhile, increased temperature and humidity were beneficial for enhancing the ClO2 releasing amount. The mechanism investigation confirmed the ambient moisture promoted the contact to achieve ClO2 generation reactions. The above results showed that the well-developed metal chloride modification in sepiolite exhibits a good prospects in terms of industry and environment.