Decolorization of organic dyes on Pilkington Activ™ photocatalytic glass

The air–solid photocatalytic degradation of organic dye films Acid Blue 9 (AB9) and Reactive Black 5 (RBk5) is studied on Pilkington Activ™ glass. The Activ™ glass comprises of a colorless TiO2 layer deposited on clear glass. The Activ™ glass is characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Using AFM, the TiO2 average agglomerate particle size is 95 nm, with an apparent TiO2 thickness of 12 nm. The XRD results indicate the anatase phase of TiO2, with a calculated crystallite size of 18 nm.Dyes AB9 and RBk5 are deposited in a liquid film and dried on the Activ™ glass to test for photodecolorization in air, using eight UVA blacklight-blue fluorescent lamps with an average UVA irradiance of 1.4 mW/cm2. A novel horizontal coat method is used for dye deposition, minimizing the amount of solution used while forming a fairly uniform dye layer. About 35–75 monolayers of dye are placed on the Activ™ glass, with a covered area of 7–10 cm2. Dye degradation is observed visually and via UV–vis spectroscopy.The kinetics of photodecolorization satisfactorily fit a two-step series reaction model, indicating that the dye degrades to a single colored intermediate compound before reaching its final colorless product(s). Each reaction step follows a simple irreversible first-order reaction rate form. The average k1 is 0.017 and 0.021 min−1 for AB9 and RBk5, respectively, and the corresponding average k2 is 2.0 × 10−3 and 1.5 × 10−3 min−1. Variable light intensity experiments reveal a p = 0.44 ± 0.02 exponent dependency of initial decolorization rate on the UV irradiance. Solar experiments are conducted outdoors with an average temperature, water vapor density, and UVA irradiance of 30.8 °C, 6.4 g water/m3 dry air, and 1.5 mW/cm2, respectively. For AB9, the average solar k1 is 0.041 min−1 and k2 is 5.7 × 10−3 min−1.