Study on Indoor Formaldehyde Neutralization by Using Anatase and Rutile Nanotitania

Abstract

Resin impregnated wooden furniture is one of the major sources of formaldehyde in homes from the use of urea-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde resins as adhesives. Indoors, emission of formaldehyde is accelerated by heat and humidity. Dehumidifiers and air conditioners are recommended to improve indoor air quality but the maintenance is costly and relative humidity in some areas are difficult to control. Due to small band gap energy and large surface area, nanotitania could neutralize formaldehyde gas by photocatalytic phenomenon. A study was carried out to investigate the formulations of pure anatase, pure rutile and mixed rutile and anatase phases which can neutralize formaldehyde within a short time. Comparative study was then performed with a control and the result showed that for the control, there are still significant amount of formaldehyde present after running the sample for one hour.