Comparative study of TiO2 and ZnO photocatalysts for the enhancement of ozone generation by surface dielectric barrier discharge in air

• TiO 2 and ZnO photocatalysts were used to enhance ozone generation. • For ozone generation we used surface dielectric barrier discharge in air. • For this application TiO 2 photocatalyst shows only slightly better performance than ZnO. We examined the possibility of finding an alternative to the photocatalyst titanium dioxide for enhancement of ozone generation by electrical discharges. As a rough indicator of the photocatalytic activity of the catalysts, we took the concentration of the ozone produced by the surface dielectric barrier electrical discharge in air. This discharge is, apart from the source of the charged and excited species, also the source of ultraviolet radiation, which could be used for the activation of photocatalysts . From various photocatalysts we have chosen zinc oxide. We compared the effect of ZnO and TiO 2 on the enhancement of discharge ozone production and we found that for this application ZnO shows almost the same effect as TiO 2 photocatalyst.