Influence of environmental temperature and relative humidity on photocatalytic oxidation of toluene on activated carbon fibers coated TiO 2

TiO2 supported on active carbon fiber (TiO2/ACF), an absorbable photocatalyst, is a new kind of material applied in air purification. In this paper, the influence of environmental temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) on the gas-solid adsorption of toluene and the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) efficiency of adsorbed toluene on TiO2/ACF were studied, and then, the purification capability of TiO2/ACF was estimated. PCO results showed that although the PCO efficiency increased under high RH and T levels, the amount of adsorption of toluene decreased. Moreover, quantitative analysis results of intermediates indicated that more environmental risk emerged when PCO of toluene was carried out at higher environmental T and RH levels because more toxic intermediates would be accumulated on the TiO 2/ACF. So, it is significant to control the environmental T and RH conditions in the application of the PCO technique. T = 25°C and RH530% is the optimal condition for purifying toluene in our experimental system. © 2008 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH.