Photocatalytic oxidation for indoor air purification: a literature review

This paper presents a literature review of using photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) to destruct volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air. TiO2 is used extensively as a photocatalyst due to its superior characteristics. Through kinetic experiments, the dependence of reaction rate on some key influencing factors (moisture, light intensity, initial contaminant concentration) has been studied, and kinetic models have been developed to aid the optimal reactor design. In general, the final products of PCO include CO2 and H2O. However, the intermediates, which are produced in the process of PCO, shouldn't be ignored because they can occupy the active sites of catalyst and lead to the deactivation of the catalyst. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.