Photocatalytic degradation of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM) collected on TiO supporting quartz fibre filter.

Carbonaceous constituents in fine particulate matter (PM) are often associated with adverse health effects in humans. Although air filtration technology is widely used for preventing exposure to PM, the trapped PM still has hazardous property if not treated subsequently. Thus, this study aimed to realise detoxification of PM with a photocatalytic decomposition of carbonaceous compounds in PM samples collected on a quartz fibre filter coated with titanium dioxide (TiO). The mass of PM gradually decreased with time during the UV irradiation with a significant release of carbon dioxide (CO) as a product. The analysis of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) using a thermal/optical carbon analyser following the IMPROVE protocol showed that carbonaceous constituents such as OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4, and EC1 fractions were successfully decomposed by UV-irradiated TiO, whereas EC2 and EC4 fractions were inert to the photocatalysis. However, a majority of the carbon content, approximately 92% of the total carbon, was reduced by the proposed method. This shows that the photon-induced TiO potentially reduces the hazardous effects of PM.