Total Organic Carbon Analysis Chip Based on Photocatalytic Reaction

Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis equipment, which was previously used to prevent eutrophication in advance, is heavy, bulky, and expensive; therefore, so it is difficult to be carried and has been used as an experimental unit. In this study, a through-carbon analysis chip that integrates pretreatment through photocatalytic oxidation and carbon dioxide measurement using a pH indicator was investigated. Both the total carbon - inorganic carbon method and the nonpurgeable organic carbon (NPOC) measurement method require an acidification part for injecting an acid solution for inorganic carbon measurement and removal, an oxidation part for total carbon or NPOC oxidation and a measurement part for Carbon dioxide (CO₂) measurement. Among them, the measurement of oxidation and CO₂ requires physical technology. The proposed TOC analysis chip decomposed into CO₂ as a result of the oxidizing of organic carbon using a photocatalyst, and the pH indicator that was changed by the generated CO₂ was optically measured. Although the area of the sample of the oxidation part and the pH indicator of the measurement part were distinguished in an enclosed space, CO₂ was quantified by producing an oxidation part and a measurement part that shared the same air in one chip. The proposed TOC analysis chip is less expensive and smaller, cost and size are disadvantages of existing organic carbon analysis equipment, because it does not require a separate carrier gas to transport the CO₂ gas in the oxidation part to the measurement part.