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The retention factor is the key quantity for the thermodynamic analysis of the retention mechanism in chromatographic experiments. In this work, we measure retention factors for moderately polar solutes on four silica-based porous matrices as stationary phases by supercritical fluid chromatography. Elution of the solutes is only possible with binary mixtures of supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) and modifier (methanol) due to the low polarity of pure sc-CO2. The addition of modifiers makes the retention mechanism more complex and masks interactions between solute and stationary phase. In this work, we develop and validate several retention models that allow the obtaining of retention factors in modifier-free sc-CO2. Such models pave the way for quantifying adsorption interactions between polar solutes and non-swellable porous matrices in pure sc-CO2 based on retention data obtained in sc-CO2/modifier mixtures. The obtained information will thereby facilitate the understanding and design of impregnation processes, which are often performed in modifier-free conditions.

Atomization and spraying are well-established methods for the production of submicrometer- and micrometer- sized powders. In addition, they could be of interest to the immobilization of photocatalytic nanoparticles onto supports because they enable the formation of microporous films with photocatalytic activity. Here, we provide a comparison of aerosol-assisted immobilization methods, such as spray-drying (SD), spray atomization (SA), and spray gun (SG), which were used for the deposition of TiO 2 dispersions onto fibrous filter media. The morphology, microstructure, and electronic properties of the structures with deposited TiO 2 were characterized by SEM and TEM, BET and USAXS, and UV-Vis spectrometry, respectively. The photocatalytic performances of the functionalized filters were evaluated and compared to the benchmark dip-coating method. Our results showed that the SG and SA immobilization methods led to the best photocatalytic and operational performance for the degradation of toluene, whereas the SD method showed the lowest degradation efficiency and poor stability of coating. We demonstrated that TiO 2 sprays using the SG and SA methods with direct deposition onto filter media involving dispersed colloidal droplets revealed to be promising alternatives to the dip-coating method owing to the ability to uniformly cover the filter fibers. In addition, the SA method allowed for fast and simple control of the coating thickness as the dispersed particles were continuously directed onto the filter media without the need for repetitive coatings, which is common for the SG and dip-coating methods. Our study highlighted the importance of the proper immobilization method for the efficient photocatalytic degradation of VOCs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Drdova, Giannakou, Jiang, Lin, Sivaraman, Toth, Graule, Braun, Ilavsky, Kuzmenko and Wang.)