Self-cleaning coatings for the protection of cementitious materials: the effect of carbon dot content on the enhancement of catalytic activity of TiO2Self-cleaning coatings for the protection of cementitious materials: the effect of carbon dot content on the enhancement of catalytic activity of TiO2 Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2023-08-232022enThe urgent demand for pollution protection of monuments and buildings forced the interest towards specific preservation methods, such as the application of photocatalytic coatings with self-cleaning and protective activity. TiO2 photocatalysts without and with a variety of carbon dots loading (TC0, TC25–75) were synthesized via a green, simple, low cost and large-scale hydrothermal method using citric acid, hydroxylamine and titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and resulted in uniform anatase phase structures. In photocatalysis experiments, TC25 and TC50 composites with 1:3 and 1:1 mass ratio of C-dots solution to TTIP, respectively, showed the best degradation efficiency for methyl orange (MO) under UV-A light, simulated solar light and sunlight compared to TiO2, commercial Au/TiO2 (TAu) and catalysts with higher C-dot loading (TC62.5 and TC75). Treatment of cement mortars with a mixture of photocatalyst and a consolidant (FX-C) provided self-cleaning activity under UV-A and visible light. This study produced a variety of new, durable, heavy metal-free C-dots/TiO2 photocatalysts that operate well under outdoor weather conditions, evidencing the C-dot dosage-dependent performance. For the building protection against pollution, nanostructured photocatalytic films were proposed with consolidation and self-cleaning ability under solar irradiation, deriving from combined protective silica-based agents and TiO2 photocatalysts free or with low C-dot content.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Coatings125Gryparis_et_al_Coatings_12(5)_2022.pdfChania [Greece]Library of TUC2023-08-23application/pdf5.6 MBfree Gryparis Charis Γρυπαρης Χαρης Krasoudaki Themis Κρασουδακη Θεμις Maravelaki Pagona Μαραβελακη Παγωνα MDPI Self-cleaning TiO2/Cdots Protective films Cultural heritage conservation Photocatalysts Sunlight irradiation