Removal of Air Pollutants Using Photosensitizers/Photocatalysts

For the artificial removal of air pollutants such as pesticides, environmental toxicants, and pathogenic microorganisms in the greenhouse or the living environment, the accelerated photodegradation and the biocidal effects of some photosensitizers (PS)/photocatalysts (PC) were tested under the sunlight and/or artificial light. The selected photosensitizers/photocatalysts included the semiconductors (PC-1 and PC-2), the oxidizers (PC-3, PC-4, PC-5 and PC-6), the aromatic ketone (PS-7) and the aromatic amine (PS-8). In the case of dichlorvos, all the photocatalysts selected showed more accelerated photodegradation than the control without photocatalysts under both the sunlight and artificial light. Whereas, only the photocatalyst PC-1 accelerated the degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether about 17 times more than the control under both the sunlight and artificial light. Procymidone was much more degraded by the photosensitizer PS-8 and the two photocatalysts (PC-1, PC-6) than by PS-7. In the preliminary experiments to diminish the population of the microorganisms in the air, the photocatalyst PC-1 added to the suspensions of Pseudomonas putida, Phytophthora capsici, and Salmonella typhimurium obviously inhibited the microbial growth under the artificial light. The photocatalyst PC-1 showed a bactericidal activity against Salmonella typhimurium spread on the nutrient broth agar medium. These results suggest that the photosensitizers/photocatalysis under the light can remove some air pollutants and hence they can be used to reduce the exposure of the workers in the horticultural facilities and/or the public in the environment to the harmful pollutants.