Effect of binders on airborne microorganism inactivation using TiO2 photocatalytic fluorescent lamps

•The efficiencies of TiO2-coated lamps were investigated for microbe disinfections.•Binder type affects the coating strength and TiO2 distribution characteristics.•Binder concentration affects the viscosity and the retention of TiO2 on the lamp.•93–96% bacterial disinfections could obtain from coated black-light lamps.•85–88% bacterial disinfections could achieve from white-light lamps. 5% Degussa P25 TiO2 was spray-coated onto black-light and white-light fluorescent lamps, using five different binders, namely DURAMAX B-1000, DURAMAX D-3005, silane-69, and two polyethylene glycols with molecular weight 1000 (PEG-1000) and 700 (PEG-700). The coated lamps were tested with Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, spores of Bacillus subtilis and spores of Aspergillus niger. It was found that 0.5% B-1000 and 1% PEG-1000 gave the highest inactivation rates: 93–96% from coated black-light lamps and 85–88% from coated white-light lamps for bacteria. In the case of spores, 70–72% and 55–57% inactivation rates were recorded from coated black-light and coated white-light lamps, respectively. The effects of UVA irradiance and face velocity were also examined. Significant improvement was observed from coated white-light lamps when the UVA irradiance increased. High face velocity adversely affected microorganism inactivation.