Mitsui Mining Smelting Co., Ltd. Et Al.

Yasuhide Yamagushi

Akira Fujishima

Kazuhito Hashimoto

Masatoshi Yamazaki

A photocatalyst comprises, on the surface, a zinc oxide film which comprises zinc oxide fine particles formed by anodic oxidation of zinc and having a particle size of not more than 0.2 .mu.m and a method for preparing a photocatalyst comprises the step of anodically oxidizing the surface of a zinc metal substance or a substance mainly comprising zinc metal to form, on the surface, a zinc oxide film which comprises zinc oxide fine particles having a particle size of not more than 0.2 .mu.m. The photocatalyst permits quite efficient decomposition or destruction of gases or bacterial cells to be treated, can easily be adhered to faces to which the photocatalytic function is to be imparted to thus impart sterilization and/or deodorization functions thereto and can easily be fitted to various apparatuses to which a film has conventionally been applied with great difficulty. In particular, if the thickness of the metal substrate is not more than 1 mm, the photocatalyst can be processed by, for instance, cutting and/or bending so that it can be adhered to faces other than flat ones. Moreover, if the photocatalytic activity thereof is deteriorated due to, for instance, contamination, the used photocatalyst can easily be replaced with a fresh one.

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Ageo, Japan

Yasuhide Yamagushi