Improvement of TiO2/LDPE Composite Films for Photocatalytic Oxidation of Acetone
Titanium dioxide with coupling agent (ETES) was applied as a photocatalyst for a synthesis of the TiO2/LDPE composite film. The physical properties of TiO2/LDPE composite film were analyzed by a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). TiO2 particles were impregnated into the polymer matrix film as a LDPE composite film. The results from the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) technique revealed that the structure of TiO2/LDPE composite film were anatase crystalline. The chemical structure of the TiO2/ LDPE composite films were analyzed by an ATR-Fourier transforms infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometer. Wavenumber of FTIR spectra at 719 cm1 indicated the Ti-O-Ti bond. Band gap energies of the films ranged from 3.19-3.29 eV. The photocatalytic activity of the film was tested for removal of gaseous acetone in a closed chamber. Experimental conditions were set as follows: a UV light intensity of approximately 2.7 mW.cm-2, flow rate of 2 L.min-1, and an initial acetone concentration of about 435±20 ppm. While the catalyst dosage was varied from 3% to 15% (wt. cat/wt. film).The degradation rate of acetone increased when increasing dosage of TiO2 from 3% to 10%, then decreased a little bit when increasing the dosage to 15%. The TiO2/LDPE composite film at the dosage of 10% yielded the highest removal efficiency of 75%, followed by the film at the dosage of 15%, 5%, and 3%, respectively.