During photocatalysis many persistent substances are degradable by suitable particles under the influence of solar radiation - especially in the UV range. In this work, the photocatalytic effect of ambient particle systems and their possible application for environmental remediation was investigated. Therefore two different techniques were applied. On the one hand, the photocatalytic effect of single particles was measured by detection of intermediately formed radicals. On the other hand the photocatalytic degradation of the persistent herbicide atrazine in bulk particle systems was investigated. Atrazine degradation by model catalysts like TiO2 was very fast, whereas with environmental particle samples no significant photocatalytic activity was observed. Thus photocatalysis by aerosol or soil particles appears not to enhance abiotic atrazine degradation in the environment. The degradation of harmful substances by modified cement samples, however, could possess a considerable contribution to the abiotic degradation of pollutants by modified building surfaces.
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During photocatalysis many persistent substances are degradable by suitable particles under the influence of solar radiation - especially in the UV range. In this work, the photocatalytic effect of ambient particle systems and their possible application for environmental remediation was investigated. Therefore two different techniques were applied. On the one hand, the photocatalytic effect of single particles was measured by detection of intermediately formed radicals. On the other hand the pho...
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