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 e ect 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 di raction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the APTMS/SiO2/TiO2 film demonstrated a degradation e ciency of 79% superior to those of SiO2/TiO2 and AEAPTMS/SiO2/TiO2 films due to the synergetic e ect of adsorption and photocatalytic properties. The APTMS/SiO2/TiO2 film can be recycled with about 7% decreasing of degradation e ciency after seven cycles.     

Adsorption of formaldehyde vapor by amine-functionalized mesoporous silica materials

The amine-functionalized mesoporous silica materials were prepared via the co-condensation reaction of tetraethoxysilane and three types of organoalkoxysilanes： 3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane, n-（2-aminoethyl）-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, and 3-（2-（2- aminoehtylamino）ethylamino） propyl-trimethoxysilane. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was used as a template for forming pores, Specific surface area and pore volume of the amine-functionalized mesoporous silica materials were determined using surface area and pore size analyzer. Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscope was employed for identifying the functional groups on pore surface. In addition, the amine-functionalized mesoporous silica materials were applied as adsorbents for adsorbing formaldehyde vapor. FTIR spectra showed the evidence of the reaction between formaldehyde molecules and amine groups on pore surface of adsorbents. The equilibrium data of formaldehyde adsorbed on the adsorbents were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm. The sample functionalized from n-（2-aminoethyl）-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane showed the highest adsorption capacity owing to its amine groups and the large pore diameter.