Direct mitigation of secondary organic aerosol particulate pollutants by multiphase photocatalysis

Particulate matter represents one of the most severe air pollutants globally. Organic aerosol (OA) comprises 30-70 % of submicron particle mass in urban areas. An effective way to mitigate OA particulate pollutants is to reduce the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here, we studied the effect of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalytic seeds on the formation and mitigation of SOA particles from α-pinene or toluene oxidation in chamber. For the first time, we discovered that under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, the presence of TiO₂ directly removed internally mixed α-pinene SOA mass by 53.7 % within 200 mins, and also directly removed SOA matter in an externally mixed state that is not in direct contact with TiO₂ surface: the mass of externally mixed α-pinene SOA was reduced by 21.9 % within 81 mins, and the toluene SOA mass was reduced by 46.6 % in 145mins. In addition, the presence of TiO₂ effectively inhibited the formation of SOA particles with a SOA mass yield of zero. This study brings up an innovative concept for air pollution control - the direct photocatalytic degradation of OA with aid of TiO₂-based photocatalysts. Our novel findings will potentially bring practical applications in air pollution abatement and regional, even global aerosol-climate interactions.