TITLE:
Study of a Photodegradant Polymeric Composite Containing TiO2 and Glass Residue
AUTHORS:
Pedro de Almeida Carísio, José Anceloann Lago Grande Martins, Geraldo Batista de Melo, João Fernando Dias
KEYWORDS:
Photodegradation, Semiconductor, Epoxy Resin, Composite
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol.7 No.4,
December
20,
2017
ABSTRACT: Photodegradation or photocatalysis is a chemical degradation process that occurs when an inorganic semiconductor is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light (wavelength 320 - 400 nm) has enough energy to detach an electron from the last layer of the semiconductor, leading to the conduction band, leaving a hole in the valence band. In these bands, chemical reduction and oxidation reactions occur, respectively. These reactions degrade diverse surface dirt, dissociating them into simpler and less offensive substances such as CO2 and H2O. In this work, we studied the potential of photocatalysis of a composite based on a semiconductor encapsulated in epoxy resin, in the degradation of Staphylococcus aureus, pathogen with a high degree of hospital contamination, in order to apply it to the construction in hospital facilities. The experiments were carried out with a fabrication of only epoxy resin tablets and tablets with the composite, at various concentrations of the semiconductor and glass powder. Through contamination of these tablets and their exposure to sunlight and the ambient light, contamination on their surfaces was verified. The results indicated potential photodegradation capacity of the composite.