There is a continuous interplay of two forces in nature—organic matter gets created and organic matter is broken up or decomposed.Photosynthesis is the natural process of light energy hitting plants and triggering the creation of organic matter. Plants combine light energy from the sun, hydrogen from water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen from ground fertilizer to create the organic molecules of life.
Photocatalysis is a form of photosynthesis that actually reverses plant based photosynthesis. It’s a natural process whereby light energy hits a mineral and triggers a chemical process that results in the breakdown or decomposition or organic matter. UV-PCO (ultra violet photocatalysis) is a technology that accelerates the naturaldecomposition of organic matter.
By definition, photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance that accelerates or speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up in that chemical reaction. For example, in the catalytic converters used in automobiles, platinum accelerates the chemical breakdown of exhaust into harmless gases and the platinum is not used up in the process. In UV-PCO, light energy from the sun or fluorescent lamps energizes a mineral called anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) and the natural chemical breakdown of organic molecules such as grime, foul material, and VOCs is accelerated. The TIO2 is not used up in the process, so the UV-PCO process can continue to breakdown organic molecules over-and-over again until only harmless gas is left.
There are four basic component that must be present in order for UV-PCO to proactively and continuously break-down organic matter: TiO2, light, water vapor (always present in the air as humidity), and air flow.