Photocatalytic and smart asphalt mixtures: a brief overview

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increasing concern about the use of less harmful techniques to the environment, and about road safety in Transportation Engineering. Heterogeneous photocatalysis based on the application of semiconductors materials onto asphalt mixtures is a promising technology because it can mitigate air pollution and road accidents. The functionalized asphalt mixtures with photocatalytic capability can degrade pollutants, such as damaging gases and oil/greases over their surface from specific reactions triggered by sunlight photons, providing significant environmental and social benefits. In this communication, a brief review of photocatalysis applied in asphalt mixtures will be presented.

Assessing the Applicability of Photocatalytic-Concrete Blocks in Reducing the Concentration of Ambient NO2 of Chandigarh, India, Using Box–Behnken Response Surface Design Technique: A Holistic Sustainable Development Approach

“…Among the various oxidation agents, such as TiO 2 , ZnO, Ag 3 PO 4 , CuO, AgI, and Cu 2 S, TiO 2based photocatalysis was reported to be most advantageous because of its high efficiency, easier mobilization on different substrates, lower operational cost, and no damage to environment and living beings [16,17]. erefore, in recent years, scientific community is also working towards exploring the applicability of photocatalysis in reduction of urban-air pollution [18][19][20]. In this regard, several surfaces of the global-urban areas, namely, buildings, roads, and monuments, were reported to be laden with different photocatalysts, and significant reduction in concentration of air pollutants was also reported [19].…”

“…erefore, in recent years, scientific community is also working towards exploring the applicability of photocatalysis in reduction of urban-air pollution [18][19][20]. In this regard, several surfaces of the global-urban areas, namely, buildings, roads, and monuments, were reported to be laden with different photocatalysts, and significant reduction in concentration of air pollutants was also reported [19].…”

“…However, in developing nations such as India, where the air quality is generally poor, the studies, emphasizing the use of photocatalysis in reducing the air pollution, are scanty [21,22]. Although few studies estimated the treatment efficiency of TiO 2 for different pollutants, they merely optimized the treatment process using conventional onevariable-at-a-time approach [18][19][20]. Moreover, research gap still exists in identifying the use of response surface methodology in photocatalysis-based reduction of air pollution.…”