Three different inorganic materials; commercial sodiumsilicate, commercial potassiumsilicate and zinc phosphate synthesized, were tried as a binder to immobilize the photocatalyst nanopowders. These binders were used to immobilize ZnO and TiO2 nanopowders on the glass substrates. The ZnO nanopowder was synthesized by the solution combustion method (SCM) which was developed by the authors. After immobilization, the scratch and ultrasonic vibration test were carried out to examine the adhesion properties of the binders. The zinc phosphate exhibited the best overall adhesion characteristics. It immobilized the SCM ZnO nanopowder twice more than other combinations of the binders and photocatalysts. Furthermore, it showed the highest photocatalytic efficiency. The efficiency reached to about 80% of the powder type photocatalytic reaction. These excellent results seem to be attributed to an interfacial binding layer between the SCM ZnO powders and the zinc phosphate binder.

Keywords: Photocatalytic nanopowder, Immobilization, Inorganic binder, Zinc phosphate