The book deals with the environmentally friendly cleaning materials functionalized with TiO2, a widely known semiconductor giving rise to redox reactions under artificial or solar irradiation. The role of Titanium dioxide in the worldwide community is introduced first. The fundamental working principles of heterogeneous photocatalysis follow and a critical section on the semiconductor bulk and surface properties open the way to the differences between TiO2 blend features with respect to analogous thin film layouts. Then follows the main section of the book which deals with the techniques applied to manufactured commercial devices, ranging from glasses to textiles and from concrete and other construction materials to paintings. Also road asphalt and other devices, such as photocatalytic air conditioning machines are outlined. Last generation materials, not yet commercialized, and the deposition techniques applied to prepare them are also widely discussed. The final part of the book covers the difficult and modern topic of standardization and comparison of performance of photocatalytic processes and in particular the guidelines proposed by various worldwide organizations for standardization are discussed. The book covers the general matters as well as the practical applications with the supporting methods discussed in detail. This book brings together a team of highly experienced and well-published experts in the field, providing a comprehensive view of the applications of supported titanium dioxide.
Vincenzo Augugliaro (b.1949) is Full Professor of Transport Phenomena at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Palermo from 1994. In the course of his scientific activity, he has contributed to the following fields: chemical absorption kinetics, biochemical reactor modelling, diffusional kinetics in metalliding alloys, chemical kinetics of heterogeneous photocatalytic systems; modelling of heterogeneous photoreactors, radiation field modelling in absorbing-reacting media, advanced oxidation processes for environment remediation. Since ca. 30 years its main research topic has been TiO2-based photocatalysis and in particular recent research deals with the modeling of thin-film reactors. He is author of many papers in international journals, communications at international conferences and book chapters. He has been also guest editor of various special issues and co-chairman of the international conference SPEA5 (Solar Chemistry & Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications) held in Palermo in October 2008.
Vittorio Loddo (b.1963) received a MSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Palermo in 1993 and a PhD degree from the University Federico II of Naples in 1998. Since August 2000 he has been Assistant Professor at the University of Palermo. In the course of his scientific activity, he has contributed to the following fields: chemical kinetics of heterogeneous photocatalytic systems; modelling of heterogeneous photoreactors, radiation field modelling in absorbing-reacting media, advanced oxidation processes for environment remediation and green synthesis. He actually works mainly in modeling of photocatalytic reactors where TiO2 is supported as a thin film. He has spent some 6 months in Spain at Plataforma Solar de Almeria in order to test the developed photocatalytic devices under solar irradiation. He is author of many papers in international journals, communications at international conferences and book chapters.
Professor Pagliaro is a research chemist and science methodology professor at Italy's National Research Council based in Palermo where he leads a research group collaborating with researchers of 10 countries and the new Institute for Scientific Methodology. His research interests lie at the interface of materials science, chemistry and biology. Reported in 60 scientific papers, book chapters and several patents, his achievements include chemical technologies now on the market.
Giovanni Palmisano (b.1981) ended (Dec 2008) his PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Palermo, where he got his MSc cum laude in Chemical Engineering (2005). He works on sol-gel materials and reactors for selective photo- and electro-catalytic conversions and photovoltaics based on dye sensitized solar cells, under the supervision of Prof. V. Augugliaro and Dr. M. Pagliaro. He is co-author of two books (on thin film photovoltaics), ca. 25 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 20 oral or poster communications and 2 book chapters. The recently co-authored feature article Photocatalysis: A Promising Route for 21st Century Organic Chemistry was the most accessed paper from the online version of ChemComm in Aug 2007.
