Titanium Dioxide Paint Is Self-Cleaning

In ancient times, people use plants to draw pictures of things like animals, trees, and other creatures they are interested in, leaving original art works for us to find out. As time goes by, the science of paints and coatings is developing and evolving. The painting industry has gone through the period of using raw materials to complex chemical ingredients auto sprayed by robotic sprayers today. We are seeing a significant change in paint application chemistry.

Two years ago, scientists in Germany discovered that some kind of furniture can “clean” itself if it is painted with a titanium dioxide coating. Adding some titanium dioxide to outdoor furniture can prevent certain bacteria and mold from growing on the coatings. Someone has done an experiment for several years observing the titanium dioxide coated furniture exposed to outdoor environment which shows that the tables and chairs looked as clean as the day they were put there. Therefore, many paint manufacturers would advertise their products having the capability to staying clean on its own and do not need to be cleaned up all the time. This is really a great advantage over their competitors.

Let’s get back to 1960s, there was a Japanese scientist discovered that when the titanium dioxide was stimulated by ultraviolet light from the sun it would destroy the molecules that allowed the growth of bacteria and mold. The use of titanium dioxide for paint is not a new practice. However, this technology was not adopted in manufacture process in the past 50 years. Not until 20^th century, scientists found that this technology could be used in interior paint to move against the dirt. After some time, scientists move forward with this research and were able to make the materials exposed to outdoor environment where the bacteria and mold would be a lot stronger in theory.

This recently developed chemical innovation is changing the products and services that are related to titanium dioxide coatings. Some years ago, paint was only considered a decorative or protective coating on which it was applied. Since the technology of paint is developing rapidly, the coatings are able to offer unique values and features all by themselves. Scientists all over the world are seeking ways trying to make paint retain its color and not crack over time. What they are desperate to achieve is not only the common properties of coatings, but also new functions that can generate more exciting results. The use of titanium dioxide certainly gives a breakthrough to coating industry, but the innovation of titanium dioxide coatings will not end here.