STUDY ON VOCs DECREASING EFFECT AND LONG-TERM REDUCTION PERFORMANCE OF SORPTIVE BUILDING MATERIALS

In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of sorptive building materials in reducing VOCsconcentrations in air using a small test chamber. Air containing a low concentration of VOCs wassupplied and any decrease in the VOCs concentrations was measured at the exhaust. Five differenttypes of building materials were investigated; activated carbon, gypsum board mixed with a givenquantity of activated carbon, board made out of activated carbon, humidity-controlling porous ceramicmaterial and ordinary gypsum board. We examined the sorptive performance on a mix of gases(toluene, ethylbenzene p-xylene and styrene) in a room. Activated carbon layer was one of the sorptivebuilding materials, and effectively reduced VOCs concentrations. We measured the sorption isothermusing the breakthrough test, which is an effective method of evaluating the long-term reductionperformance of sorptive building materials and can be measured in the relatively short period of a fewhours. Experiments show that sorptive building materials are fairly effective in reducing VOCsconcentrations in rooms, and that this effect can be expected in practical applications.