Preparation of porous sheet composite impregnated with TiO2 photocatalyst by a papermaking technique

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) powder-containing sheet composites, called TiO2 sheet, were prepared by a papermaking technique, and their photocatalytic efficiency was investigated. The TiO2 powders were homogeneously scattered over the fiber-mix networks tailored within the catalyst sheet. Under UV irradiation, the TiO2 paper could decompose p-hydroxyacetophenone (p-HAP), although the degradation efficiency by the TiO2 sheet was lower than that by the TiO2 powder. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that coverage of the TiO2 particles inside the sheet by alumina binder which was used to improve the sheet strength caused the deterioration of the photocatalytic performance. Internal addition of alumina binder made the TiO2 sheet porous and such a TiO2 sheet exhibited high photocatalytic performance equivalent to that of TiO2 powder. The porous structure of TiO2 sheet might contribute to effective transport of p-HAP to the surface of TiO2 particles inside the sheet, resulting in high degradation performance. In addition, TiO2 sheet prepared using TiO2 sol showed higher photocatalytic efficiency than TiO2 powder and it was indicated that the porous sheet structure might provide suitable conditions for TiO2 catalysis for photodecomposition.