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    Field Test of Self-Cleaning Zr-Modified-TiO2-SiO2 Films on Glass with a Demonstration of Their Anti-Fogging Effect

    Year: 2019

    Journal: Materials, Volume 12, JUL 1

    Authors: Suligoj, Andraz; Pliekhova, Olena; Vodisek, Nives; Mihelcic, Mohor; Surca, Angelja K.; Kunic, Roman; Subic, Barbara; Starman, Jernej; Ugovsek, Ales; Stangar, Urska Lavrencic

    Organizations: Slovenian Research AgencySlovenian Research Agency - Slovenia [L2-7630, P1-0134]

    Keywords: self-cleaning; anti-fogging; TiO2-SiO2; field test; glazing

    The number of commercial products claiming self-cleaning properties is rising and testing of long-term activity and durability of such coatings needs to be addressed more. The time-dependent changes of different characteristics like haze, transparency, and color are essential for transparent glazing materials. Herein, we aimed to examine whether the laboratory results obtained on the Zr-modified-titania-silica (TiZr) self-cleaning materials would translate to larger-scale outdoor-exposed testing. TiZr thin films were deposited via spraying onto float glass window surfaces and exposed into three different environments for 20 months. For comparison, a commercially available active SGG BIOCLEAN(TM) glass and standard float glass were simultaneously exposed in the same conditions. It was shown that the self-cleaning property of either a commercial product or TiZr-coated float glass was not considerably effective in real field test conditions, although the previous laboratory tests showed pronounced photocatalytic activity of TiZr thin films. The inclination angle; however, was shown to have a considerable effect on the self-cleaning ability of samples, as did the rain patterns during the testing period. On the other hand, the anti-fogging effect of our TiZr material was very well expressed in controlled laboratory conditions (measuring droplet formation time) as well as in the real outdoor environment.
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