The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor to climate emissions and experiences the highest growth in energy use. This study explores the use of TiO2 nanoparticles for obtaining photocatalytic nanocomposites with improved infrared reflectance properties. The nanocomposites were prepared by dispersing 0-20 wt% of TiO2 nanoparticles in an unsaturated polyester resin. The effect of TiO2 on the curing kinetics was studied by differential scanning calorimetry, showing a significant delay of the curing reactions. The thermal reflectance of the modified resins was characterized by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry, measuring total solar reflectance (TSR). The TiO2 greatly increased the TSR of the resin, due to the reflectance properties of the nanoparticles and the change in color of the modified resin. These nanocomposites reflect a significant part of near-infrared radiation, which can contribute to a reduction of the use of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Moreover, the photocatalytic effect of the TiO2 modified nanocomposites was studied by monitoring the degradation of an organic model contaminant in an aqueous medium under UV light, and the reusability of the nanocomposites was studied with 5 cycles. The developed nanocomposites are proposed as a solution for reducing global warming and pollutant emissions.
Keywords: TiO2 nanoparticles; kinetics; thermal performance; total solar reflectance (TSR) photocatalysis; unsaturated polyester resin.