Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of Thin Film Coated on Polycarbonate Surface with N- and Ni-Codoped TiO2 Photocatalyst

Abstract

N- and Ni-coated TiO2 (NNT) were prepared by a facile sol-gel method as a photosensitive photocatalyst to visible light. NNT sol was used to coat the surface of an LED lamp cap and body made of polycarbonate with a thin NNT film. The coated thin film was dried in an oven at 130 °C. This NNT thin film had an amorphous TiO2 structure and absorbed 600 nm of visible light. The decomposition properties of formaldehyde on the NNT photocatalyst after irradiation with visible light were investigated. The LED lamp was irradiated with visible light at 500–620 nm and 6 W. Formaldehyde was decomposed by a photocatalytic reaction by visible light irradiation on the NNT-coated polycarbonate surface. Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were also used to examine the sterilizing properties of pathogenic bacteria using an LED lamp kit. The pathogenic bacteria on the NNT-coated polycarbonate surface were sterilized by irradiation with visible light.