New coating fighting against pollution!

[john33]

What do you think?
It is a fully transparent photocatalytic coating based on titanium dioxide in anatase form capable of making all surfaces self-cleaning. The photocatalysis caused by this coating is not only capable of cleaning up the ambient air as well as making the buildings and buildings self-cleaning but in addition, applied inside the same buildings including on the textiles (!), It destroys the bacteria , viruses, microbes, pollens, mites, odors, toxic volatile organic compounds ... In short, a real revolution for the preservation of our health ... And cocorico, it's French!
Reference link: PHOTOCAL http://www.cyberbtp.com/actus&dossiers/ ... ticle=5669

[Targol]

The idea is attractive but ...

• What is the total environmental cost of manufacturing this product (from the exploitation of raw minerals to the sale)
• Any chemical reaction implies a transformation of the components. In this case, how long before the active compounds in the product are completely transformed and therefore its properties diminish?
• Let it kill bacteria and viruses, all right. But with regard to chemical compounds (pollution), how are Nox and other volatile compounds transformed?
• Won't this kind of product, if widely disseminated, serve as a pretext for a general slackening of pollution?

In short, like every time someone offers me a "miracle" technique, I can't help but look for the catch. We have already seen so many miracle cures turn into disaster that I prefer to ask myself the questions before ...

[Christophe]

+1 with Targol ...

It reminds me of a news from a few months ago (years ???) my ca was happening in Japan ...

Wouldn't it be best to work to avoid the creation of this pollution?

ps: it wasn't in japan after all ... or it was something else
https://www.econologie.com/forums/un-bitume- ... t2850.html

[john33]

According to the information from the PHOTOCAL lab, this technique would cost +/- 3 € per M2 which seems to me a reasonable price since the photocatalytic action lasts several years (2 to 3 years).
The advantage seems to me to be precisely the fact that pollutants are transformed into H2O and CO2 much like the photosynthesis of plants which with sunlight transforms carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. But the most interesting for me is the indoor use that can be made of it. Indeed, numerous scientific and medical studies warn us against indoor pollution which would be more important than outdoor pollution! This new product destroys VOCs, bacteria, viruses, microbes, mites, pollens and molds. And unlike all other traditional chemicals that act instantly but do not last, this PHOTOCAL coating lasts several months and the icing on the cake is that it is non-toxic. I am thinking of the advantages that allergic people, asthmatics, hospitals, etc.

[bamboo]

Yep, I also have some doubts about the immediate effectiveness (destruction of pollutants) and in the long term (people's behavior).

Besides, the article was published on March 27 ... Could this be a mistake of a few days? (April 1 for the following steps :-))

Otherwise, if it destroys viruses, bacteria, mosses & co, is it certain that it does not "destroy" humans when they touch this surface?

[john33]

Meuh no that does not destroy the man! Photocatalysis is not a new technology, it has been well known for a long time and without any danger ... What is new, however, is to create this reaction with nanoparticles which are much more active than their size. origin ... A word of advice: type "titanium dioxide photocatalysis" on google ... You will hallucinate about the number of scientific articles on this subject!

[Flytox]

Hello

Regarding the titanium oxide used, this is used for other applications in industry (for example developer for penetrant testing) where contact is frequent on the hands (powder).

Retired colleagues are not all dead yet ...... I'm kidding
It's still very unpleasant to breathe when it's powdered.

"Titanium dioxide dust can cause mechanical irritation to the eyes and respiratory tract. According to several epidemiological studies, titanium dioxide is not toxic."

Econologiquement yours.

[john33]

Totally correct ! But titanium dioxide in its natural form is used for many other applications: in paints, toothpastes, makeup products, sun creams, etc.
It is when it is transformed into nanomolecules that it turns out to be a formidable depollution and antebacterial! For many scientists, this would be the best solution to effectively reduce pollution. For example, if all the facades of a city like Paris were covered with this product, pollution would drop by more than 50%! This is why I do not validate this fear that many ecologists manifest against nanotechnologies. The solution is not to say "no" but to consider and put in place the safeguards so that this extraordinary technology does not get out of hand.

[Targol]

This is why I do not validate this fear that a good number of ecologists manifest against nanotechnologies.

Here, they talk about me

The solution is not to say "no" but to consider and put in place the safeguards so that this extraordinary technology does not slip away.

And that's where the shoe pinches: who are you counting on to set up the guardrails?

• On industrialists? The same people who, through intensive lobbying, have emptied the European REACH project of its substance in order to be able to continue making profits by launching untested substances on the market?
• On policies? Those who told us that the Chernobyl cloud had stopped at the borders, unless you count on those who are responsible for the poisoning of thousands of hemophiliacs with contaminated blood? Or maybe the politicians who pretended not to know that the meat imported from England was contaminated by mad cow disease? Or do you think of those who authorize GM crops in the field without having asked themselves the question of their danger?

No, believe me, the only really effective control vis-à-vis industrialists remains citizen control and this is what certain "green people" as you call them when they demonstrate are trying to do.
They do not demonstrate to ban this or that technology (they are far from having the power), but just to have the right to be informed about the risks.
However, on nanotechnologies, as on many advanced techniques (GMO, nuclear, ...), information is given drop by drop and people with an attitude other than blissful admiration are conscientiously distant and kept in ignorance.

I am not against nanotechnologies, I am for the fact that their implementation follows strict test protocols in particular as to their dangers on human health and on the ecosystem.

[john33]

Remember the ink that spilled the beginnings of IT ... The fears that it generated ... The fear of all facing this new technology ...
Later in our history, the car, the plane, ... considered by many at the time as devilish devices ...
Do not get the wrong targets and do not confuse nanotechnologies with GMOs or nuclear ... GMOs are the product of a real monopoly (MONSANTO). It is not a new technology, it is one of the products of a new technology. Nanotechnology is a new science so vast that very clever would be the one who could define its borders today ... And the vast majority of the discoveries that this new technology will allow in the years to come will certainly be extremely beneficial for Man and for our planet. However where I agree with you is that as always, a minority of unscrupulous individuals will use and already use this fabulous science only to fill their pockets and not worry at all about the consequences. Quite frankly (I work in a lab), I doubt that the industrialists and the politicians are today able to carry out anything as a control because of the emergence of this new technology and therefore the ignorance of the most many face it, and especially the incredible speed of its evolution and development (3 to 4 times faster than IT!). I am convinced that it is up to the scientists themselves to reason and to frame themselves, which fortunately the vast majority of them do. The problem is that information and communication do not pass between the scientific world and the citizen. It is not for me to control but to inform and debate with the citizen, which has never been done so far (except with the referendum for Europe which unfortunately was not a success)! Here is what we have discovered, here are its advantages and here are its disadvantages ... How can our society organize itself to take advantage of the advantages and protect itself from the disadvantages ... Consider the citizen as a responsible individual, debate with him and put together these famous safeguards! ... And not leave him in ignorance and put him before the fait accompli ... and be surprised then by his fear panics by simple ignorance which can generate only "NO", demonstrations and conflicts! I can quote you at least a hundred discoveries from nanotechnology to date, in medicine, electronics, physics, biology, ... which will each revolutionize and positively disrupt our life and our environment. The eternal problem is that these same discoveries can each also be used for bad purposes (terrorists, mafia organizations, monopolies, etc.). Should we then ban them at the outset? Deprive themselves of their extraordinary advantages? or is it not better to inform citizens, debate and find responsible political solutions to prevent slippage? Conclusion and I doubt you like it, it is anyway too late to stop the machine, the investments are colossal and are incommensurate with everything we have known so far. We are already talking in the hundreds of millions of dollars in turnover and we will be talking in billions of dollars tomorrow. The entire industrial world has invested in this unprecedented competitive war.