The main objective of this work was to study the potential of three-dimension beta silicon carbide (β-SiC) alveolar foams for use as photocatalyst support, targeting the implementation of structured photocatalytic reactors for air treatment. Medium surface area β-SiC alveolar foams were synthesized according to the Shape Memory Synthesis concept, consisting in the controlled carburization of a preshaped polyurethane foam. First, the degradation of three model pollutants (methylethylketone, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) was performed over TiO2 thin layers in a flow-through reactor for selecting three photocatalysts of interest – Hombikat UV100, PC500 and P25 TiO2 – among six commercial standards. The powderly photocatalysts were further immobilized onto β-SiC foams. After an optimization step in terms of mean cell size, light transmission, photocatalyst nature and weight content as well as of the immobilization method, the TiO2/β-SiC foam photocatalytic media was characterized and its photocatalytic behaviour was compared in a single-pass mode as well as in a recirulation mode inside a 2 m3 chamber, to those obtained on a TiO2 thin layer and with a well-known commercial photocatalytic felt media made from quartz fibers supporting sol-gel TiO2. The photocatalytic media elaborated with β-SiC alveolar foams exhibited superior performances compared to that of the commercial felt standard. The foams acted as static mixing within the reactor and allowed a more efficient use of the reactor volume, by increasing the photocatalyst density per reactor volume unit, while maintaining however a suitable illumination within the reactor core as well as very low pressure drops.
