Enhancement of formaldehyde degradation by amine functionalized silica/titania films

Doping amine functional groups into SiO2/TiO2 films for enhancing the decomposition of formaldehyde has been investigated using the modified sol-gel method to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid photocatalysts via the co-condensation reaction of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS) and amine functional groups. n-(2-Aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane (AEAPTMS) and 3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane (APTMS) were selected to study the effect of amine functional groups on the enhancement of formaldehyde adsorption and degradation under a UV irradiation process. Physicochemical properties of prepared photocatalysts were characterized with nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms measurement, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the APTMS/SiO2/TiO2 film demonstrated a degradation eficiency of 79% superior to those of SiO2/TiO2 and AEAPTMS/SiO2/TiO2 films due to the synergetic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic properties. The APTMS/SiO2/TiO2 film can be recycled with about 7% decreasing of degradation eficiency after seven cycles.