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Nowadays, dental resins find increasing use by practitioners. However, photopolymerization of such resins is limited to a so-called 'depth of cure'. To face this problem, dentists superimpose resin layers of limited depth. This technique raises the problem of the quality of interlayer. This paper aims at screening different cases of adhesion at the interface. Shear strength of such interfacial layers is tested in shear mode in various conditions (with or without an oxygen-inhibited layer, or contaminated by saliva or water). Unexpectedly, the presence of an oxygen-inhibition on the first layer, as assessed using micro-Raman spectroscopy, induces higher shear strength. In this case, a cohesive break occurs while an adhesive one is observed in all the other cases.

Photocatalytic paints based on titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles represent a promising treatment technology for cleaning the air at our dwellings. A few studies have shown that instead of elimination of harmful indoor air pollutants the production of carbonyl compounds occurs from the photocatalytic paints. Herein, we report unexpectedly high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released upon irradiation of photocatalytic paints which are meant to clean the air at our dwellings. The concentrations of the VOCs were measured continuously and online by PTR-ToF-MS (Proton Transfer Reaction-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry) connected to a well-established flow tube photoreactor. The PTR-ToF-MS analysis revealed the presence of 52 ions in the mass range between 20 and 490 amu, among which 43 have been identified. In particular very high emission rates were estimated of two relevant indoor air pollutants, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde as 355 μg h and 257 μg h for 1 m, respectively. We suggest a detailed reaction mechanism responsible for the production of these harmful indoor air pollutants (formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, among the others). The hydroxyl radicals (OH) formed upon activation of TiO, react with the organic constituent (butyl acrylate and vinyl acetate) of the paint binder lead to generation of an important number of organic compounds. We demonstrate that the TiO quantity and the organic content of the binder is of paramount importance with respect to the formation of VOCs, which should be considered for future optimization of this air remediation technology based on TiO nanoparticles.