Materiali fotocatalitici disinquinanti operanti a bassi livelli di irradianza - Effetti non lineari

Photocatalytic depolluting materials offer a possible air pollution mitigation technology degrading organic and inorganic pollutants by light-activated oxidation. The photocatalytic depollution activity of such materials is usually tested at high UV-A irradiances. Very often, however, they work in real applications at medium or low irradiance levels. In order to assess the depollution performance at various UV-A irradiances a sample of experimental photocatalytic cementitious material was studied using toluene as pollutant. The results demonstrate a non-linear behaviour, with higher than expected activity at low irradiances. These findings have relevance for the potential applications at low-medium irradiances and for the experimental method and test protocol design.