Photocatalytic cementitious composites: enhanced air purification performance by BOF slag addition

This paper investigates the utilization of BOF slag as a cementitious support for photocatalytic nitrogen oxides abatement, presenting an exploratory study on its potential to address environmental concerns. The phase composition of BOF slag-based mortars is studied using XRD, FTIR, and TGA, while binding energy and microstructure are investigated with XPS and MIP, respectively. The photocatalytic NO degradation properties of as-prepared mortars are characterized. The BOF slag-based mortar without TiO 2 addition exhibits a %Conversion of about 10% and a %Selectivity of 97%. Furthermore, the BOF slag-based mortar demonstrates better photocatalytic properties than the OPC-based mortar when the same amount (5 wt%) of TiO 2 photocatalyst is used. The addition of quartz insignificantly affects the %Conversion but significantly lowers the %Selectivity. These findings underscore the potential of BOF slag as a promising alternative support material for photocatalytic NO x abatement, offering insights into its application in sustainable environmental remediation strategies. The limitations of this study are revealed, and future research directions are proposed.