self cleaning building- a civil engineering innovation

We humans are beauty lovers. We prefer Beauty to Purpose..! Many a times it costs more for Architectural works than the actually building.Nature has other plans…! May be it got angry on how we are ruining it and decided to take revenge, using our mistakes against us..!

This is what we are doing to it…

The gasses that are being released from factories and vehicles reacts with the concrete and deteriorates the outer surface making it lose its Aesthetic appearance.

Due to this, a lot of man power, time and a lot of money is being wasted every year to clean the buildings and restore their appearance.

Instead, what if the buildings can clean themselves?

Self Cleaning Concrete

B.Dinesh Rishi14071A0104

Contents Introduction Literature Review Preparation of TiO2 References Conclusion

Introduction

NOx (NO2, NO3 etc.,) are the main components of the air pollution that reacts with building surfaces constantly and stains them.

Literature Review

Sun can help us out with this.(Nature Again..!)

Coating the outer surface of concrete(any surface of course) with Titanium dioxide can make self cleaning possible.

Titanium Dioxide is a Photocatalyst(light acts as catalyst)

It decomposes NOx which are mainly responsible for staining of buildings into component Nitrates which are harmless to the atmosphere(purifying @same time)

It also decomposes both Organic and Inorganic wastes on the surface and in the surroundings in the presence of Sun.

This way, the decomposed wastes are ready to get washed off in rain or even in a water as less as in morning dew.

Preparation of TiO2

Experimentally, it’s found that doped TiO2 is more efficient in degrading wastes than pure TiO2. So, Ag(Silver) is added in various concentrations and the Titanium catalyst is prepared. Modified titanium catalyst were prepared with two different concentrations of Ag, 0.2% and 2%.

For the preparation of titanium doped catalyst with 0.2% Ag, 0.002 moles of silver was dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water in porcelain bowel and 0.998 moles of titanium dioxide was added to the solution. (Mix 1)

For the preparation of titanium doped catalyst with 2% Ag, 0.02 moles of moles silver was dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water in porcelain bowel and 0.98 moles of titanium dioxide was added to the solution.(Mix 2)

The solutions were stirred well and allowed to settle for 24 hr., the contents were heated well to evaporate all the water. The dried solids were first ground and then calcined at 400oC for 6 hrs. in muffle furnace.

Mix 1 is more efficient in preserving the whiteness of building (useful for works made of White cement)

Mix 2 is more efficient in preserving the colour of the Building

References 1. http://www.arconic.com/aap/europe/en/

info_page/ecoclean.asp2. http://www.citymetric.com/skylines/awhat-

exactly-self-cleaning-concrete-and-how-does-it-work-944

3. Production of self-cleaning cement using modified titanium dioxide by

1. Jatinder kumar(Assistant Professor, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar N.I.T, Jalandhar, India ),

2. Anurag Srivastava(P.G. student, Department of chemical engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar N.I.T, Jalandhar, India )

3. Ajay Bansal (Associate Professor, department of chemical engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar N.I.T, Jalandhar, India )

ConclusionThe addition of Titanium Dioxide in the outer coating not only helps self cleaning of any surface but also helps purifying the air surrounding it. It was experimentally found that 1000 m2 of this coating can disperse as much smog that 80 trees can disperse.In addition to ensuring the beauty it is also purposeful in cleaning the air surrounding it.

THANK

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