The influence of various forms of titanium dioxide on the performance of resultant cement composites with photocatalytic and antibacterial functions

•TiO2 nanoparticles as functional admixtures to cement composites.•TiO2-modified composites with improved antibacterial and self-cleaning properties.•Selection of the most appropriate TiO2 admixture using statistical evaluation. An experimental and statistical analysis was performed to determine how six titanium dioxides, differing in polymorphic variety, crystallite size, and surface area, influence the rheological, structural, mechanical, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of cement composites. The analysis revealed the significant impact of the type of titanium dioxide on certain functionalities of the cement matrix, and the need for custom design when special properties of the composite are desired. It is shown that the smaller the dimensions of crystallites and the larger the surface area of the titanium dioxide used, the better are the mechanical parameters of the composite and the worse are the rheological parameters. Also, the choice of polymorph determines the photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. There was a highly significant correlation between the experimental results and those predicted by the experimental design model through the response surface methodology (RSM), followed by multiple regression and ANOVA evaluation. Therefore, it confirmed that the anatase form performed the most effectively as an additive for inducing antibacterial and photocatalytic properties. [Display omitted]