Development of photocatalytic ceramic materials through the deposition of TiO2 ...

• Author(s): Carneiro, Joaquim A. O. ; Teixeira, Vasco M. P. ; Azevedo, Sofia ; Fernandes, Filipa ; Neves, Jorge
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/21649
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): TiO2 nanoparticles; Dip coating; Ceramic materials; Photocatalytic activity
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Urbanism and communities centralization enlarges atmospheric pollution that affects both human beings as well as their constructed buildings. Different scientific and technological studies are being conducted, both in academic and construction industry, aiming the development of new construction materials with properties that can decrease visual pollution of cities, reducing also the number of cleanings required. The present research work aims the study and the production of self-cleaning ceramic surfaces in an economical and viable way without changing aesthetical aspect of material substrates used. The use of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NNPs) represents an attractive way to generate self-cleaning surfaces, therefore promoting the degradation of pollutant agents and reducing cleaning maintenance costs. In order to impart self-cleaning properties to ceramic surfaces, TiO2-NNPs based layers were deposited on different ceramic material substrates using the dip-coating method. The Photocatalytic activity (degradation of pollutants adsorbed on the surface) of the TiO2-NNPs based layers was characterized via the decomposition rate of an aqueous solution of Methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation. Colourless layers were successfully produced onto gray and white ceramic substrates using this sol-gel technique, without changing their aesthetical appearance. It was observed that the best photocatalytic activity was exhibited by the most porous ceramic substrate (gray); nevertheless, all the TiO2-NNPs coated ceramic surfaces showed good photocatalytic efficiency.