Development of Innovative Photoactive Admixtures for Concrete and Cement-Based Plaster Finishes, to Create Self-Cleaning Surfaces

This article presents research and development on innovative photoactive admixtures for concrete and cement-based plasters for the finishing of concrete surfaces. The goal is to provide the resulting surfaces of these newly developed materials with a self-cleaning ability stemming from photocatalytic reaction during exposure to UV radiation. This research and development is currently underway as part of a project supported by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the TRIO programme; and in cooperation with BETOSAN s.r.o., the Technical University of Liberec, the Institute of Inorganic chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The first type of material under development is a photocatalytically active admixture in powder form, allowing the preparation of concrete surfaces with photocatalytic properties. The second type of material under development is a photocatalytically active cement-based plaster, intended primarily for application to a concrete substrate. The preparation of two or more final versions is to be expected for both types of materials. In the case of the plaster this includes the preparation of two colour variants, specifically white and grey. For the powdered cement admixture we expect the preparation of various types based on their application. This could mean different types of admixtures mixed throughout the entire volume of the concrete or only in the surface layer of the concrete. We envisage exterior applications on the self-cleaning outer shell of buildings, as well as treatment of the surface layer of various structures such as bridges, noise barriers, traffic barriers and tunnels. The materials created could also be used in interiors under specific conditions, with anticipated uses in the health care and food processing industries.