Photocatalytic Degradation of Skim-Latex-Vapor Odor Using Iron-Doped Zinc Oxide

The photocatalytic degradation of the vapor odor of skim natural rubber latex, which is composed of volatile organic compounds (VOCs-NR), was conducted using iron-doped zinc oxide (Fe-ZnO) photocatalyst nanoparticles. The research objectives were to study the photocatalyst, to develop the photocatalytic reactor used for the photodegradation of VOCs-NR, and to analyze the odor reduction of the degraded VOCs-NR. Fe-ZnO was prepared by the sol-gel method and immobilized onto fiberglass cloth as the support material, followed by annealing. The Fe-ZnO nanoparticles were dispersed on the fiberglass surface. A photocatalytic reactor was developed for the gas phase. The research findings showed that gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy detected 24 dominant chemical components in the VOC-NR stock before photocatalytic degradation. The components decreased to 11 after 30 min, only 3 components remained after 40 min of the photocatalytic process, and no component was observed after 80 min of photoirradiation. An organoleptic test was conducted to validate that the odor degraded to a very low level.