Photodegradation of Automobile Exhaust Gases Using Catalytic Asphalt Pavement

Vehicular emissions (e.g., NO, and CO gases) substantially contributing to air quality problems in urban areas. The current work utilized paving asphaltic concrete with a locally-made photocatalyst to degrade NOx and CO evolved from an automobile engine. Various parameters were investigated, such, as gas flow (1, 2, and 3 L/min), light intensity (35, 50, and 70 W/m
²
), wt. % Cu doped nano-TiO
2
(0, 2, 3.6, and 4.2 wt. %), and relative humidity (50%) to predict their influence on NO and CO oxidation. SEM, EDX, and FTIR were utilized to identify the doped photocatalyst. The outcomes showed that gas flow rate impact inversely on the degradation efficacy. In contrast, light intensity and Cu loading effect positively. After 3 hours of operation, a gaseous flow of 1 Lmin-1, light irradiation (50W/m2), and Cu loading (3.6 wt. %) onto nano-TiO2 resulted in remove an efficiency of 70.6%. With the same aforementioned operating variables, the CO removal efficiency was 49.4%.