Emission of titanium dioxide nanoparticles from building materials to the environment by wear and weather

Neeraj Shandilya (1, 2) , Olivier Le Bihan (1) , Christophe Bressot (1) , Martin Morgeneyer (2)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 TIMR - Transformation Intégrée de la Matière Renouvelable

In the present work, we investigate the effect of the weathering duration on a commercial photocatalytic nanocoating on the basis of its nanoparticles emission tendency into the two media - air and water. It is found that the increase in the weathering duration results into the stepwise structural deterioration of the nanocoating which, in turn, decreases the nanocoating life, changes the nanocoating removal mechanism and increases the particle emission concentration. The emission of the free TiO2 nanoparticles is found to be weathering duration dependent. Three quantities- Emission Transition Pace (ETP), Stable Emission Level (SEL) and Stable Emission Duration (SED) are introduced. By linearly extrapolating these quantities from short weathering durations, the complete failure of the nanocoatings can be predicted and moreover the potential increase of nanoparticles release into the air.

Mots clés: Weathering; Emission; Nanocoating 28 29

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Neeraj Shandilya, Olivier Le Bihan, Christophe Bressot, Martin Morgeneyer. Emission of titanium dioxide nanoparticles from building materials to the environment by wear and weather. Environmental Science and Technology, 2015, 49 (4), pp.2163-2170. ⟨10.1021/es504710p⟩. ⟨ineris-01855008⟩