Correlative study of photocatalytic bactericidal effect and organic matter degradation of TiO2

This study aims to investigate the correlation of the photocatalytic effect of decomposing organic matters and inactivating bacteria using two different TiO2 materials: Degussa P25 powder film and TiO2 thin film prepared by sol-gel method. The destructed organic matter is formaldehyde and the test bacterium is E coli (JM 109 strain). The decomposition test and the bactericidal test are carried out in a plate reactor and on the TiO2 surface respectively. Experimental results show that light intensity and initial concentration affect the mineralization rate of organic matters and bacteria in the same way. It is indicated that a correlation exists between degradation of organic matters and inactivation of microorganisms.