Self-cleaning and mechanical properties of modified white cement with nanostructured TiO₂

In the present study, self-cleaning and mechanical properties of white Portland cement by addition of commercial available TiO₂ nanoparticles with the average particle size of 80 nm were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and BET were used to characterize TiO₂ nanoparticles. For determination of self-cleaning properties of TiO₂-modified white cement, colorimetric tests in decolorization of C.I. Basic Red 46 (BR46) in comparison to unmodified cement samples was applied. The results indicated that with increasing the amount of TiO₂ nanoparticles in modified cement, self-cleaning property of the samples increased. The mechanical properties of TiO₂-modified and unmodified cement samples, such as time of setting of hydraulic cement, compressive strength of hydraulic cement mortar and flexural strength of hydraulic cement mortar were examined. The results indicated that addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles up to maximum replacement level of 1.0% improved compressive and flexural strength and decreased its setting time.