Investigation Into Marine Concrete Anti-Fouling Coatings

摘要

Our civil engineers involved in the construction or maintenance of marine concrete structures are faced with the problem of preventing unwelcome microbial growth in an environmentally friendly way. A long term ecologically sound answer to organic growth remains unsolved, however the use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles within coatings for concrete pavements have received considerable attention in recent years as these particles can trap and decompose organic and inorganic air pollutants by a photocatalytic process (1). In spite of these promising benefits, the durability and resistance to wear of TiO2 surface coatings upon fibre reinforced marine concrete has not been evaluated. In this article, the development of fundamental research on the application of TiO2-based photocatalysis in a marine environment will be introduced. The problems encountered at a UK study site restricting a larger scale application of the technology are discussed.