A method for producing photocatalytic mortar includes providing a mortar-producing material including a fine aggregate and cement, a reactant mixture including a zinc source and urea, and a microorganism-containing mixture including water and a urease-producing microorganism, subjecting the microorganism-containing mixture and the reactant mixture to microbial induced precipitation in the mortar-producing material, subjecting zinc carbonate crystal-containing mortar produced to curing for the same to undergo hydration, and subjecting cured mortar to hydrothermal synthesis, so that zinc carbonate crystals therein are converted to nano zinc oxide crystals.

A plurality of photocatalytic coated ceramic granules comprising base ceramic granules, each having an outer surface, and a photocatalytic coating disposed on the outer surface. The photocatalytic coating comprising an inorganic binder and a plurality of photocatalytic particles selected from TiO.sub.2, ZnO, Ti(OH).sub.4, doped derivatives thereof and combinations thereof. The photocatalytic particles have a surface area per weight of tire particles of no more than 30 square meters per gram (m.sup.2/g). The coated ceramic granules have a Total Solar Reflectance of at least 0.7.

The invention relates to an aerogel concrete mixture containing a photocatalyst, a photocatalytically active high-performance aerogel concrete obtainable therefrom and a method for producing same.

The present invention relates to a cementitous composite specifically engineered to possess self-cleaning abilities while maintaining their unique strain-hardening behaviour and the preparation of the said composite. The cementitious composite comprises a hydraulic cement, a plurality of fibers, in particular polyvinyl alcohol fibers wherein the ratio of the plurality of fibers to the hydraulic cement is in a range from 1 to 3% by volume; a self-cleaning agent, in particular nanoparticulate titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2) wherein the weight ratio of the self-cleaning agent to the hydraulic cement is in a range from 0.01 to 1.

Disclosed embodiments concern a composition comprising a diatom frustule and two or more photocatalytic nanoparticles dispersed on the surface of the frustule. Also disclosed are embodiments of a method for making the composition. The nanoparticles are dispersed such that they are separate and not in physical contact with each other. An average distance between the nanoparticles may be from greater than 0 nm to 100 nm. The nanoparticles may comprise a dopant material. Paint compositions comprising the diatom frustule compositions are also contemplated. The diatom frustule composition may be useful for removing and/or degrading volatile organic compounds, such as those present in the atmosphere.

A process produces building materials with inert materials capable of remaining durably solid and with a low environmental impact. The process includes mixing sand, sodium hydroxide and possibly additives, adding calcined kaolin, adding sodium silicate and/or a mixture of sodium silicate and potassium hydroxide, and adding photocatalytic titanium dioxide.

The invention relates to photocatalytic compositions, e.g. cement-based photocatalytic compositions, and the uses thereof for obtaining water paints. There is provided a photocatalytic composition, which comprises: (a) at least one inorganic binder; (b) at least one photocatalyst; (c) at least one cellulose with very low viscosity; (d) at least one fluidizing agent; (e) at least one first calcareous filler in the form of particles of which at least 95% by weight has a dimension not greater than 40 μm; (f) at least one second calcareous filler in the form of particles of which at least 95% by weight has a dimension not greater than 20 μm; (g) at least one thermal insulator material comprising hollow ceramic spheres with sub-mm diameters, and (h) glass bubble borosilicate microspheres.

Disclosed embodiments concern a composition comprising a diatom frustule and two or more photocatalytic nanoparticles dispersed on the surface of the frustule. Also disclosed are embodiments of a method for making the composition. The nanoparticles are dispersed such that they are separate and not in physical contact with each other. An average distance between the nanoparticles may be from greater than 0 nm to 100 nm. The nanoparticles may comprise a dopant material. Paint compositions comprising the diatom frustule compositions are also contemplated. The diatom frustule composition may be useful for removing and/or degrading volatile organic compounds, such as those present in the atmosphere.

The present invention relates to a cementitous composite specifically engineered to possess self-cleaning abilities while maintaining their unique strain-hardening behaviour and the preparation of the said composite. The cementitious composite comprises a hydraulic cement, a plurality of fibers, in particular polyvinyl alcohol fibers wherein the ratio of the plurality of fibers to the hydraulic cement is in a range from 1 to 3% by volume; a self-cleaning agent, in particular nanoparticulate titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2) wherein the weight ratio of the self-cleaning agent to the hydraulic cement is in a range from 0.01 to 1.

Disclosed herein are phase change materials microencapsulated by a microcapsule having two shells, the first shell (directly encapsulating the phase change material) being an organic polymeric material and the second shell (an outer shell) being made from a doped TiO.sub.2 material. The microcapsules disclosed herein may be particularly useful for improving the energy efficiency of indoor environments, as well as providing compositions that they are applied to (e.g. paints) with self-cleaning properties.