Photo-catalytic coating of polystyrene for household cooling appliances with self cleaning surfaces

The potential of photo-catalysis as a self cleaning process is investigated for application inside refrigerator cabinets, taking advantage of the well known oxidative properties of titanium dioxide (anatase form). A low temperature in situ synthesis was adopted to obtain a catalytic layer over a pol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied electrochemistry 2009-11, Vol.39 (11), p.2265-2273
Main Authors: Di Giulio, S., Faraldi, P., Russo, N., Fino, D., Saracco, G., Specchia, V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatase
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Cleaning
Cooling
Dirt
Dyes
Electrochemistry
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Original Paper
Physical Chemistry
Polystyrene resins
Refrigerators
Titanium dioxide
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Summary:The potential of photo-catalysis as a self cleaning process is investigated for application inside refrigerator cabinets, taking advantage of the well known oxidative properties of titanium dioxide (anatase form). A low temperature in situ synthesis was adopted to obtain a catalytic layer over a polystyrene (PS) support. The synthesised material was characterised by SEM, XRD and BET analyses. Photo-catalytic activity towards organic dirt decomposition was measured through the oxidation of various organic dyes, as the perceivable decolouring of the dirt represents a clear activity indicator for users. The selected contaminants (Methylene Blue and Ortho-Cresole Red) and two refrigerator wastes (orange juice and tomato pulp) were tested at different concentrations. The results were evaluated through by colorimetric analysis. A clear photo-catalytic effect of dye discolouring was detected on the coated samples. The discolouring effect of the coated samples was comparable with that observed on the anatase powder.
ISSN:0021-891X
1572-8838
DOI:10.1007/s10800-009-9858-6