Experimental Study of Bacterial Inactivation on High Efficiency Particulate Air Filters coated with TiO2

FLORES, MARINA; MARIANA CRISTIANI; CLAUDIO PASSALIA; MARISOL D. LABAS; BRANDI, RODOLFO J.

Natal

Conferencia; 4TH IBEROAMERICAN CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED OXIDATION TECHNOLOGIES; 2019

UFRN

Airborne microorganisms may cause various negative effects, especially infectious, allergenic and immunotoxic diseases.In this work, the photocatalytic and the photochemical inactivation of E coli in high efficiency particulate air filters (HEPA) was measured. E coli was spread, resembling Flügge drops, on HEPA filters and on HEPA filters whit TiO2 and then were subjected to UV-A irradiation during different times. The advantage of using photocatalysis along with conventional air filtration is that the filters are also self-cleaning. The experimental results showed a meaningful reduction of the viability of E.coli on the TiO2-covered filters after the irradiation period (3 orders of magnitude at 25 minutes of irradiation), confirming the viability of bacterial photocatalytic inactivation as a disinfection technology. Titanium dioxide, (TiO2-based) photocatalysis on high efficiency particulate air filters is likely to meet a dual goal: retention and inactivation with high effectiveness.