Cosaert Ewoud, Mortazavi Milani Hadis, Heynderickx Geraldine J, Poelman Dirk
LumiLab, Department of Solid State Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Molecules. 2025 Apr 10;30(8):1700. doi: 10.3390/molecules30081700.
Long-time exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere can have negative health effects on humans and other living organisms. In order to purify ambient air, these VOCs can be degraded using photocatalysis. In this research, commercially available TiO nanoparticles were immobilized in a porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexa-fluoropropylene) (PVDF) polymer matrix, synthesized using the phase inversion method. The most used solvent for PVDF is N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). However, this solvent is known to be harmful to humans and the environment, and there is a need to replace NMP with a more ecological 'green' solvent. Here, triethyl phosphate (TEP), methyl-5-(dimethylamino)-2-methyl-5-oxopentanoate (Rhodiasolv PolarClean) and propylene carbonate (PC) were used to dissolve PVDF for the phase inversion synthesis of porous photocatalytically active PVDF/TiO hybrid layers onto aluminium slides. The photocatalytic degradation under UV (365 nm) of gaseous ethanol in an argon/oxygen (Ar/O) atmosphere shows that these solvents are suitable replacements for NMP, but optimization is required to improve the performance of the layers. Apart from changing the solvent for PVDF, the UV and photocatalysis stability of PVDF has been determined, as well as the repeatability of the photocatalytic reaction, to prove that PVDF is a suitable polymer for this application.
长期暴露于大气中的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）会对人类和其他生物产生负面健康影响。为了净化环境空气，可利用光催化降解这些VOCs。在本研究中，将市售的TiO纳米颗粒固定在通过相转化法合成的多孔聚（偏二氟乙烯-共-六氟丙烯）（PVDF）聚合物基质中。PVDF最常用的溶剂是N-甲基-2-吡咯烷酮（NMP）。然而，已知这种溶剂对人类和环境有害，因此需要用更环保的“绿色”溶剂替代NMP。在此，使用磷酸三乙酯（TEP）、5-（二甲基氨基）-2-甲基-5-氧代戊酸甲酯（Rhodiasolv PolarClean）和碳酸丙烯酯（PC）来溶解PVDF，以便在铝片上通过相转化合成多孔光催化活性PVDF/TiO混合层。在氩气/氧气（Ar/O）气氛中，紫外光（365 nm）下气态乙醇的光催化降解表明，这些溶剂是NMP的合适替代品，但需要进行优化以提高混合层的性能。除了改变PVDF的溶剂外，还测定了PVDF的紫外稳定性和光催化稳定性以及光催化反应的可重复性，以证明PVDF是适用于此应用的聚合物。
