earticle

영어

Photocatalysts are widely used via sol-gel and hydrothermal methods to coat surfaces such as windows and solar panels because of their ability to prevent microorganism growth. Although these methods are effective, they are sophisticated and costly. Thus, the focus of this research was to find a simple, easily-reproducible coating method that successfully coats TiO2 on a panel. First, modifications of the sol-gel method were applied using compounds such as AgBr, PEG (Polyethylene Glycol), and ZnO and the crystal formation on the panels were compared. It was found that when ZnO was added to the mixture, the surface tension of the coated surface increased and PEG additionally helped reduce cracks on the surface of the panel. Also, a simplified version of the hydrothermal coating method was employed and was successful in coating the surface of glass and metal panels evenly using the precipitates that formed during the process. Instead of using pressure with ZnO, NaOH was used in order to coat the glass panels.Out of the metals that were coated, it was observed that ZnO coated best on the surface of zinc. Both methods demonstrated the ability of photocatalysts to degrade methylene blue and prevent bacterial and fungal growth.