Novel self-cleaning coatings: Development and testing

Self-cleaning coatings, which follow the concepts of photocatalysis, superhydrophobicity or superhydrophilicity, are commercially available. The self-cleaning properties of such coatings, however, are significantly degraded, when they are exposed to scratching or surface tension affecting substances. Within this work a novel concept to generate surfaces with self-cleaning properties is proved. This concept bases on a usage of UV/IR-reflecting additives in organic or inorganic/organic hybrid coatings. The self-cleaning properties of these coatings are evaluated by the outdoor exposure and with a novel quantitative short-time test. The results obtained show a good correlation. Additional methods for the quantification of the UV-induced degradation of coatings are proposed.