Porcelain gres tiles with photocatalytic properties for a better environment

Porcelain gres tiles are characterised by their very low water absorption rate of less than 0.5%, and are manufactured under high pressure by dry-pressing fine processed ceramic raw materials with large proportions of quartz, feldspar and other fluxes. Afterwards, the body of these materials is fired at high temperatures (1200 - 1300°C) in a roller kiln. The final material is characterized by lack of porosity, durability, high breaking and wear resistance properties and a complete frost resistance. In the past decades porcelain gres tiles underwent significant transformations in terms of appearance and size. At the beginning of the industrial productions, porcelain gres tiles were considered as just a technical material characterized by strong resistance to both abrasion and acid attack, almost lack of porosity, but aesthetically not very beautiful. Today thanks to new industrial production methods, both properties and beauty of these materials completely fit the market requests. In particular, the possibility to prepare slabs of large sizes is the new frontier of the building materials. Beside these noteworthy architectural features, new surface properties have been introduced in the last generation of these materials. The present paper reports the research at the base of a new kind of fired tiles able to carry out a specific antibacterial and self-cleaning action and to reduce polluting molecules thanks to its new photocatalytic properties due to the surface presence of photoactive micro-TiO2.