New Coating Decomposes Fine Dust on Concrete Blocks
Korean researchers have developed a photocatalyst coating for concrete pavement that can trap and decompose air pollutants when exposed to visible light.
The photocatalyst coating decomposes fine dust-causing substances that have subsided on concrete pavement or precast pavers of a sidewalk.
Existing photocatalyst coatings for concrete pavement only work for ultraviolet light, which is a tiny fraction of sunlight, but the new coating responds to visible light.
This new technology, which is claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, was developed by Professor Kim Young-dok of Sungkyunkwan University.
Kim said that when the new photocatalyst coating is put on 100 square meters of concrete pavement, it can reduce as much fine dust as a tall tree.
On June 11, the Seocho and Jungnang districts of Seoul coated the concrete blocks of a sidewalk in Yangjae-dong and a children’s park in Myeonmok-dong with the photocatalyst film to verify its effects.
The installation area was 50 square meters each, and this coating is expected to purify the atmosphere by oxidizing and decomposing substances that create fine dust. The coating also has antibacterial and deodorization functions. In addition, this technology is easy to use and economical as the film can be coated on the existing concrete pavement without removing it.
The pilot project was carried out by JCHI Global Co., which owns the patented technology, and Stell, a company that have experiences in executing coating projects. JCHI Global produces environment-friendly products using its expertise in nanotechnology.
As a quarterly follow-up measure for the pilot project, various surface precision analysis methods (FT-IR, XPS) will be used to verify how much the materials responsible for the fine dust have actually been decomposed at the site.
This pilot project is the first case in the world where a photocatalyst coating technology is executed and verified simultaneously.
"We will prove the efficacy of the photocatalytic technology through the pilot project and expand the scope of its applications to follow-up products such as paints, parking flooring, tiles, sound absorption walls, artificial turf, and elastic packaging of children's play facilities," JCHI Global CEO Oh Joo-myung said.