Antifungal and Photocatalytic Activity of Smart Paint Containing Porous Microspheres of TiO2

In this study, porous microspheres of TiO2 (µTiO2) were synthesized, characterized and incorporated into an acrylic paint formulation to obtain a photocatalytically active paint. In a novel approach, the antifungal properties of the µTiO2 paint were evaluated using Monascus ruber as the representative microorganism and compared to those of a photocatalyst-free paint. The photocatalytic activity of paint films was determined by methylene blue (MB) degradation under real conditions of application. High photocatalytic and antifungal activity was observed, with the microorganism culture showing the formation of growth inhibition halos, typical of materials that produce biocides that diffuse into the culture medium.本研究合成并表征了多孔二氧化钛（TiO₂）微球（µTiO₂），将其掺入丙烯酸涂料配方中，以制备具有光催化活性的涂料。本研究采用创新性研究思路，以红曲霉（Monascus ruber）作为代表性受试微生物，评估了该µTiO₂涂料的抗真菌性能，并与不含光催化剂的空白涂料进行对比。通过亚甲基蓝（MB）在实际应用条件下的降解实验，测定了涂料漆膜的光催化活性。实验结果表明，该涂料兼具优异的光催化与抗真菌活性，受试微生物培养基中出现了典型的生长抑制圈——这是能够产生可扩散至培养基的生物杀灭剂的材料的典型特征。