Efficient hollow double-shell photocatalysts for removing air pollutants under sunlight and in the dark

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Air pollution kills 7 million people every year globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report in March 2014. To date, air purification is technically challenging both in Canada and worldwide. Among advanced strategies, the degradation of water/air pollutants under sunlight with the aid of an artificial photocatalyst is the most important and viable way, considering that in a single hour the sun delivers energy sufficient for all human activities in an entire year. However, a major challenge lies in designing an efficient sunlight-driven photocatalyst system. This proposal aims at developing a new generation of full-sunlight-driven photocatalysts with high electron storage capacity for remediating air depollution both in the day and at night. Photo-excited electrons are stored in the day sunlight and further discharged in the dark to form H2O2 for organic pollutant degradation. This project has the potential to replace Exp photo-Fenton Technology for mineralization of air and water organic contaminants such as formaldehyde. Exp is an engineering company with one of the most important growth in North America.The target of this project is to achieve new solar-driven systems with the required efficiency, scalability, and sustainability to be economically viable.