A versatile approach is studied for the elaboration of TiO₂ based photocatalytic coatings for self-cleaning applications on transparent substrates. The basic principle of the synthesis relies on the use of preformed TiO₂ colloidal particles that are further dispersed within a transparent silica binder with a mesoporous structure. Film porosity in the nanometer range is controlled by achieving the sol–gel silica condensation around self-organized micellar assemblies of a templating copolymer surfactant. The latter also acts as a stabilizer for the TiO₂ particles, thus preserving their high dispersion within the film so that excellent optical properties are maintained even for high TiO₂ loading (up to 50%).

The photocatalytic activity of the films was measured by monitoring the degradation of stearic acid deposited on the film under UV-A irradiation. Although the kinetics are found to follow a first order law over all the degradation curve, they exhibit a more complex behaviour, since the calculated rate constant k₁ values calculated for different experiments were found to decrease drastically when increasing the initial stearic acid concentration.

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