Title:
Cementitious Composite Materials for Self-Sterilization Surfaces
Author(s):
Abdul Halim Hamdany, Yuanzhao Ding, and Shunzhi Qian
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
119
Issue:
6
Appears on pages(s):
197-210
Keywords:
cementitious composites; Escherichia coli decomposition; self-sterilization surfaces; superhydrophilicity; titanium dioxide (TiO2)
DOI:
10.14359/51735983
Date:
11/1/2022
Abstract:
This paper studies the antibacterial activity of different TiO2 nanostructures (fine-particulate TiO2, TiO2-anatase, and TiO2-rutile) for self-sterilization applications. It is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the investigation of radical production by means of the p-nitrosodimethylaniline (RNO)-bleaching method. In the second part, the effect of incorporating TiO2 into a cement-based composite on its microstructure is evaluated. In the third part, the
antibacterial performance is assessed. The results demonstrated that fine-particulate TiO2 has the highest rate of hydroxyl radical production (2.5 times higher than that of TiO2-anatase) owing to its high specific surface area. TiO2 nanoparticles tend to agglomerate/aggregate during the mixing process, reducing the surface area available for the photocatalytic process. However, fine-particulate TiO2 agglomeration can be suppressed under strong alkaline conditions. A significant antibacterial effect was achieved
by the sample with fine-particulate TiO2. The percentage of the
infected area is less than 5% for the cement sample containing 5% of fine-particulate TiO2, while the control specimen has more than 15% of the infected area.