Incorporation of Anatase-TiO2 in cement to enhance the self-cleaning and mechanical properties: A systematic study

• Published in: Materials today : proceedings 2021, Vol.47, p.533-538
• Main Authors: Khanna, Sakshum, Paneliya, Sagar, Hinshu, Harsh, Singh, Ayush Pratap, Bhatt, Naimish, Barik, Biswajit, Mishra, Rohit, Motiani, Ronak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cement; Mechanical strength; Photocatalytic properties; Self-cleaning; TiO2 nanoparticle
• ISSN: 2214-7853; 2214-7853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.10.625

In the current work, we have investigated the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on cement self-cleaning and mechanical properties. The anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using a hydrothermal method with the average particle size of 60 ± 20 nm. Further Scanning electron microscopy (SEM); Elemental analysis (EDX) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were incorporated in cementitious materials with different ratio to investigate the enhancement in the mechanical and self-cleaning properties. The determination of self-cleaning properties of TiO2/cement composite was carried out with the decolourization test of rhodamine B in comparison to unmodified cement samples. The results indicated that with increasing the amount of TiO2 nanoparticles in modified cement, a self-cleaning property of the samples increased. The mechanical properties of TiO2/cement composite samples, such as flexural and compressive strength, were examined in comparison with bare cement sample and showed an improvement of approximately ∼ 1.0% in the compressive and flexural strength.