Incorporation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in mortars – influence of microstructure in the hardened state properties and photocatalytic activity

TitleIncorporation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in mortars – influence of microstructure in the hardened state properties and photocatalytic activity
Publication TypePapers in International Journals
Year of Publication2013
AuthorsLucas S. S., Ferreira V. M., and Aguiar, J. B.
Abstract
The environmental pollution in urban areas is one of the causes for poor indoor air quality in buildings, particularly in suburban areas. The development of photocatalytic construction materials can contribute to clean the air and improve sustainability levels. Previous studies have focused mainly in cement and concrete materials, disregarding the potential application in historic buildings. In this work, a photocatalytic additive (titanium dioxide) was added to mortars prepared with aerial lime, cement and gypsum binders. The main goal was to study the way that microstructural changes affect the photocatalytic efficiency. The photocatalytic activity was determined using a reactor developed to assess the degradation rate with a common urban pollutant, NOx. The laboratory results show that all the compositions tested exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency. It was demonstrated that photocatalytic mortars can be applied in new and old buildings, because the nanoadditives do not compromise the mortar hardened state properties.
JournalCement and Concrete Research
Volume43
Pagination112–120
Date Published2013-01-01
PublisherPergamon Press Ltd.
ISSN0008-8846
URLhttp://sieeum.eng.uminho.pt/publicacoes/pub.aspx?pubid=16929
KeywordsCement, Mechanical properties, Microstructure, Mortar
RightsopenAccess
Peer reviewedyes
Statuspublished

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The Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction (CTAC) is a research unit of the School of Engineering of University of Minho (UMinho), recognised by the “FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” (Foundation for Science and Technology), associated to the Department of Civil Engineering (DEC), with whom it shares resources and namely human resources.

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