Nanoscale TiO2 (titania) has been shown to be an active photocatalyst for use in water purification.  The nanoparticulate nature of the titania virtually requires that the photocatalyst be deposited on a macroscale support material to prevent the need for post-use filtration to remove the titania from the water in practical applications.  Titania has been deposited on many different types of materials for this purpose, including polymeric materials such as UV-transparent poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA).  In order to avoid oxidative degradation from the activated photocatalyst, it is essential that the PMMA support material be highly crosslinked.  A greater crosslink density results in greater resistance to photocatalytic degradation, but it also produces a more brittle material that is more resistant to the solvent-based titania deposition technique. The PMMA crosslink density was investigated in order to produce a composite material with maximum mechanical and photochemical durability.

Effect of crosslink density on the durability of acrylic-titania composite photocatalytic support materials

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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