TiO2 photocatalyst for removal of volatile organic compounds in gas phase - A review

Review on heterogeneous photocatalytic disinfection of waterborne, airborne, and foodborne viruses: Can we win against pathogenic viruses?

Radiative sky cooling cools an object on the earth by emitting thermal infrared radiation to the cold universe through the atmospheric window (8–13 μm). It consumes no electricity and has great potential to be explored for cooling of buildings, vehicles, solar cells, and even thermal power plants. Radiative sky cooling has been explored in the past few decades but limited to nighttime use only. Very recently, owing to the progress in nanophotonics and metamaterials, daytime radiative sky cooling to achieve subambient temperatures under direct sunlight has been experimentally demonstrated. More excitingly, the manufacturing of the daytime radiative sky cooling material by the roll-to-roll process makes large-scale deployment of the technology possible. This work reviews the fundamental principles of radiative sky cooling as well as the recent advances, from both materials and systems point of view. Potential applications in different scenarios are reviewed with special attention to technology viability and benefits. As the energy situation and environmental issues become more and more severe in the 21st century, radiative sky cooling can be explored for energy saving in buildings and vehicles, mitigating the urban heat island effect, resolving water and environmental issues, achieving more efficient power generation, and even fighting against the global warming problem.

Radiative sky cooling: Fundamental principles, materials, and applications

It is important to decrease the energy cost of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems without compromising indoor air quality and comfort conditions due to the rising cost of fossil fuels and other environmental concerns. Liquid desiccant cooling systems are one of the alternatives in this regard which is not only environmental friendly (no use of any refrigerant which deplete ozone layer) but at the same time make a good use of alternative sources of energy like, solar, biomass etc. This paper presents different commercially available liquid desiccants and their composites which combines the properties of two or more desiccant materials for better performance. A good desiccant should have better moisture absorption capability and lower temperature of regeneration. This paper also includes the different configurations of liquid desiccant dehumidifiers and their advantages as well as drawbacks. Some new configurations of liquid desiccant dehumidifiers have been introduced which greatly improves the system overall performance. Moreover, a summary of the performance parameters has been made to analyze the system performance. This review is meaningful for the research and technical development process of liquid desiccant technology.

Liquid desiccant materials and dehumidifiers – A review

Botanical biofiltration of indoor gaseous pollutants – A mini-review

With the improvement of the living standard, air conditioning has been applied widely. Meanwhile, health problems associated with air-conditioning systems and indoor air quality appear more frequently. In this paper, recent research is reviewed on air-conditioning systems and indoor air quality control for human health. The problems in the existing research are summarized. Further study is suggested on air-conditioning systems and indoor air quality control for healthy indoor air environment.

Z B Hu

Papers

Review of research on air-conditioning systems and indoor air quality control for human health.