Efficient photocatalytic reactors via 3D printing: SLA fabrication and TiO2 hybrid materials

• Author(s): Barbosa, ISO ; Manrique, Y.A. ; Paiva, D. ; Faria, JL ; Santos, RJ ; Silva, CG
• Date: 2025
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/169877
• Origin: Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

Additive Manufacturing (AM) was evaluated as a promising technology for constructing photocatalytic reactors due to its inherent ability to produce complex geometries with high precision and customization. In this work, a 3D structure was designed to achieve a good light distribution inside a cylindrical batch reactor and printed using the stereolithography (SLA) technique. A hybrid material composed of a commercial photoreactive resin (Formlabs Clear V4) and the benchmark photocatalyst TiO2 P25 Evonik (1 wt%) was prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and rheological and mechanical methods. To evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the materials, several experiments on the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) were carried out using the 3D printed structure. Its performance was assessed by monitoring the concentration at specific times. Overall, the results demonstrate a simple, cost-effective, and fast technique to immobilize catalysts used in photocatalytic applications.