Dr. Neeraj Shadily et al. have recently published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology.
The study investigated the Emission of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles from Building Materials to the Environment by Wear and Weather"
Abstract : In the present work, we investigate the effect of weathering duration on a commercial photocatalytic nanocoating on the basis of its nanoparticle emission tendency into two media, air and water. It is found that increased weathering duration results in stepwise structural deterioration of the nanocoating, which in turn decreases the nanocoating life, changes the nanocoating removal mechanism, and increases the particle emission concentration. Emission of free TiO2 nanoparticles is found to be weathering duration dependent. Three quantities are introduced : emission transition pace (ETP), stable emission level (SEL), and stable emission duration (SED). By linear extrapolation of these quantities from short weathering durations, complete failure of the nanocoatings can be predicted and, moreover, the potential increase of nanoparticles release into the air.
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was carried out in the framework of the Labex SERENADE (ANR-11-LABX-0064) and the A*MIDEX Project (ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02), funded by the French Government program, Investissements d'Avenir, and managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR). We thank the French Ministry of Environment (DRC 33 and Program 190) and ANSES (Nanodata Project 2012/2/154, APR ANSES 2012) for financing the work. We are equally grateful to Olivier Aguerre-Chariol, Patrice Delalain, Pauline Molina, and Farid Ait-Ben-Ahmad for their cooperation and advice during the experiments.
