Obtaining of self-cleaning repair air lime mortars with photocatalysts

Abstract

The obtaining of self-cleaning mortars is very interesting to apply them in Built Heritage. Atmospheric pollutants, mainly carbonaceous particles and gases like NOx and SO2 can lead to severe aesthetic and functional damages in artworks. In the case of mortars and renders, the use of photocatalysts -usually based on TiO2- can be worthy of consideration. Photocatalysts, after being activated by light, are able to oxidize pollutants avoiding their deposition onto building materials. In this work, different air lime mortars modified upon the addition of TiO2-based photocatalysts were obtained and studied. Photocatalysts can be incorporated in bulk and the changes in fresh state properties were studied as well as the effect of the presence of the photocatalysts on the pore structure and mechanical resistance. Finally, the photocatalytic efficiency of these materials was carried out by means of a NOx abatement test. Results showed that the presence of the photocatalysts had a positive impact on the preservation of the lime mortars characteristics.