Evaluation of test methodologies and self cleaning performance of TiO2 containing constructions materials

The M.Sc. thesis work here presented is dedicated to the study of the surface properties of photocatalytic cementitious materials, specially focusing on mortars modified through the addition of titanium dioxide (TiO2) an on the definition of a characterization method to evaluate their photocatalytic and self-cleaning performances. This evaluation has been carried out by examining the TiO2- assisted photodegradation of organic compounds, the variation of hydrophilicity through absorption-evaporation tests, and the real life behavior of the materials through a long-lasting exposure test. In the latter, a correlation between the atmospheric parameters, such as rain, sunlight radiation and pollution, and selfcleaning attitude was sought.