Destruction of Chemical Warfare Agents by Enhanced Photocatalytic Reactions at Semiconductor Ceramic Membranes

Semiconductor-catalyzed photooxidation of chemical waste is a comparatively recent development which offers several advantages over other know oxidation processes. The advantages include: 9i) no consumption of expensive oxidant; (ii) catalyst is non- hazardous; (iii) the photocatalytic reactions may be driven by sunlight, and (iv) the oxidation is powerful and leads to the mineralization of the majority of organic contaminants. However, because only about 1% of the solar spectrum is utilized by highly oxidizing semiconductor catalysts, the quantum yield of photooxidation reactions has to be optimized. This project pursues the development of an innovative approach to increase the rate of the photocatalytic mineralization of chemical waste, which can be used both in the gas and liquid phases. This approach is based on combining two technologies: (i) photocatalytic oxidation using the porous semiconductor membranes, and (ii) Lynntech's electrochemical process for generation of highly concentrated ozone. It is expected that the use of ozone as a reactant in the semiconductor membrane photocatalytic reactor will increase the rate of photooxidation reactions by 2-4 orders of magnitude compared to other enhanced photocatalytic processes. Lynntech, Inc. will adopt a dual-use development approach because the combined technologies have the potential for waste degradation in both Army and commercial applications.