A Study on TiO2 Surface Texturing Effect for the Enhancement of Photocatalytic Reaction in a Total Phosphorous Concentration Measurement System.

Jae Keon Kim,Jae Yong Lee,Da Ye Kim,Youngjin Lee,Seung Deok Kim,Jong-Hoo Paik,Chang Hee Kim,Hyeon-Su Lee,Seong Mo Koo,Seong Ho Kong

doi:10.3390/mi12101163

Abstract

Powerful sunlight, a high water temperature, and stagnation in the water flow induce eutrophication in rivers and lakes, which destroys the aquatic ecosystem and threatens the downstream water supply systems. Accordingly, it is very important to perform real-time measurements of nutrients that induce algal growth, especially total phosphorus, to preserve and manage the aquatic ecosystem. To conduct quantitative analysis of the total phosphorus in the aquatic ecosystem, it is essential to perform a pretreatment process and quickly separate the phosphorus, combined with organic and inorganic materials, into a phosphate. In this study, the sandblasting process was used for the physical etching of the wafer, and photocatalytic materials were deposited on the surface with various roughness in order to improve the photocatalytic reaction surface and efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction was applied to combine the pretreated sample with the coloring agent for color development, and the absorbance of the colored sample was analyzed quantitatively to compare and evaluate the characteristics, followed by the surface increase in the photocatalytic materials. In addition, the pretreatment and measurement parts were materialized in a single chip to produce a small and light total phosphorus analysis sensor.

Highlights

Various human activities, such as the discharge of agricultural water and factory wastewater and urbanization, lead to excessive quantities of phosphorus in the aquatic ecosystem and cause eutrophication in the water [1,2,3]
This study proposes a small total phosphorus analysis sensor with considerably improved photocatalytic properties as a result of texturing the wafer surface
The photocatalytic efficiency can be improved by increasing the light absorption area and decreasing the reflectivity of the wafer by a texturing process that causes the wafer

Summary

Introduction

Various human activities, such as the discharge of agricultural water and factory wastewater and urbanization, lead to excessive quantities of phosphorus in the aquatic ecosystem and cause eutrophication in the water [1,2,3]. Eutrophication in water quality leads to the over-breeding of algae, and, as a result, this consumes a large amount of oxygen and rapidly reduces the amount of oxygen available for the survival of fish, crustaceans, and various aquatic organisms [4,5,6,7]. Phosphorus, one of the causes of eutrophication, is an indicator of water pollution [8,9,10]. Research is being actively conducted worldwide to develop a small total phosphorus monitoring system with real-time measurement to prevent eutrophication in advance [11].

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Conclusion