Passive Control of Indoor Formaldehyde by Mixed-Metal Oxide Latex Paints

Abstract

This work reports the incorporation of mixed-metal oxides (MMOs) such as Si/Ti and Si/Zr into latex paints in the form of thin coatings for permanent trapping of indoor formaldehyde. The formaldehyde removal performance of the surface coatings was evaluated in a lab-scale indoor air chamber, and the results were compared with those of powder analogues. Due to the pore blockage by the latex, the incorporation led to 6-30% reduction in adsorption capacity and 50-70% drop in the adsorption rate for MMO-latex paints relative to their powder MMO analogues. Under the operating conditions of concentration, temperature, and relative humidity, the Si/Zr-latex paints outperformed the Si/Ti counterparts. It was also observed that performance could decrease over excessive loading, for example, Si/Zr-latex paint with 15/1 Si/Zr weight ratio showed a 20% lower adsorption capacity than that of the Si/Zr-latex paint with 25/1 Si/Zr ratio at 5 ppmv, 25 °C, and 70% RH. While high temperature greatly reduced the adsorption rate of the MMO-latex paints, high humidity slightly promoted the rate of formaldehyde capture. In 10 L, flow-through chamber tests, 25Si/Zr-latex paint reduced 5 ppmv formaldehyde by up to 60% at 25 °C and 70% RH with an adsorption rate of 0.34 ppmv/h. Overall, this study highlights the potential of MMO-latex paints with optimized formation for the efficient abatement of indoor aldehydes.

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Center for Research in Energy and Environment (CREE)

Comments

The authors thank the Missouri S&T’s Smart Living Signature Area and the Center for Research on Energy and Environment (CREE) for financially supporting this project.

Keywords and Phrases

Adsorption; Formaldehyde Removal; Indoor Air; Latex Coating; Passive Control

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0013-936X; 1520-5851

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2021 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

08 Jun 2021

PubMed ID

34101438

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