Characteristics of Titanium Dioxide-Impregnated Fibrous Activated Carbon and Its Application for Odorous Pollutant

Abstract

The application of fibrous activated carbon (FAC)-titanium dioxide () hybrid system has not been reported yet for the control of malodorous dimethyl sulfide (DMS) at residential environmental levels. Accordingly, the current study was designed not only to characterize this hybrid system using x-ray diffraction method, particulate surface measurement and Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) method, but also to evaluate its adsorptional photocatalytic activity (APA) for the DMS removal. The physical/surface characteristics of FAC- which was prepared in this study suggested that the hybrid material might have certain APA for DMS. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific area, total pore volume, micropore volume and mesopore volume decreased all as the amounts coated on FAC increased, whereas the reverse was true for average pore diameter. coated onto FAC did not influence the adsorptional activity of FAC for the DMS input concentration of 0.5 ppm. The APA test of the hybrid material presented that the initial removal efficiencies of DMS were 93, 78, 71 and 57% for the flow rates of 0.5, 1.0, l.5 and 2.0 L/min, respectively, and they decreased somewhat 2 h after the experiment started and kept almost constant for the rest experimental period. Under this pseudo-equilibrium condition, the DMS removal efficiencies were 78, 58, 53 and 36% for the four flow rates, respectively. Meanwhile, there were no significant byproducts observed on the surfaces of the hybrid material. Consequently, this study suggests that, under the experimental conditions used in the present study, the hybrid material can be applied for DMS at residential environment levels without being interfered by any byproducts.