Photocatalytic activity on TiO2-coated side-glowing optical fiber reactor under solar light

A novel optical fiber reactor (OFR) that employs side-glowing optical fibers (SOFs) as a means of light transmission medium and TiO2 supporter has been developed, characterized, and investigated. Different from existing ones, the SOF here is made up of quartz core with a silicon cladding, which can emit light from side surface more uniformly and can transmit light for longer distance since attenuation of light through SOF is slow; furthermore, SOF is flexible enough to be entwined into U-shapes. The crystal phase and microstructure of TiO2 coating are investigated by XRD and SEM. Solar light collected and transmitted to SOF by automatic sun-tracing equipment (ASE) was utilized to excite the titania coating for photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP). Compared to traditional solar collectors, the present one can collect solar light efficiently while occupying smaller area, moreover, ASE allows a long distance light transmission to somewhere such as indoor or sub-surface for photocatalytic applications. Results show that 79% of 4-CP had been decomposed under sunlight irradiation for 8 h.