Enhancement of photocatalytic activity of self-cleaning cement

Potential Applications of Geopolymer Cement-Based Composite as Self-Cleaning Coating: A Review

“…Self-cleaning technology is commercialized to be applied in indoor and outdoor applications. In the last few decades, indoor and outdoor pollutions are becoming significant concerns due to the exponential growth in the industrialization and urbanization over the world [30]. Nowadays, abundant technologies have evolved from nature, one of which is self-cleaning technology.…”

“…According to the researchers and environmentalists, development of cement-based photocatalytic materials has widely been applied in the construction industry and extensively studied in order to produce photocatalytic finishing materials for buildings with self-cleaning properties, which simultaneously reduce the pollutants, contributing towards environmental benefits [30,35]. These applications range from architectural concrete panels and precast (e.g., sidewalks, road surfacing panels, traffic dividers, and pavements) to Portland cement-based plaster for finishing coating applications (e.g., cement paste, road coating, concrete masonry block, facade, roof tiles, and sound barriers elements) [21,25,29].…”

“…Other than that, photocatalytic cement concrete has been applied in lighting systems and the renovation of a heavy traffic tunnel in Rome [25]. Additionally, the self-cleaning of TiO 2 -based materials in combination with cement and paint has also been explored [30]. TiO 2 -based white cement as a cementitious binder was developed for enhancing the aesthetic durability of cementitious materials [38].…”

“…In contrast, the total porosity of the cement pastes decreased due to alteration of distribution pore size and shortening initial and final setting time due to the nano-TiO 2 addition [21]. Ratan and Saini [30] studied the related utilization of nanosized-TiO 2 for the production of self-cleaning white cement and found that there is also a drawback in usage of TiO 2 nanoparticles, which is that nano-TiO 2 tends to agglomerate in the cementitious material. However, these drawbacks are not a reason to replace nanosized-TiO 2 with microsized-TiO 2 , as the reduction in the photoactivity of self-cleaning cement is the major disadvantage of TiO 2 in micro sizes.…”

Characterization of Titanium Nanotube Reinforced Cementitious Composites: Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, and Hydration

“…Nano-TiO 2 has also been used to improve the durability of asphalt concrete [18]. In other research fields, nano-TiO 2 has been widely applied in photocatalysts [15,19,20,21,22], dye-sensitized solar cells [23,24,25], water splitting catalysts for hydrogen production [26], gas sensing [26,27], self-cleaning coatings [28], and superhydrophilicity [29] because it is easy to handle, economical, harmless to the human body, and not affected by temperature. However, as a reinforcing agent for the cementitious materials, nano-TiO 2 has very little impact on enhancing tensile strength because of its geometrical features [16].…”