Upscaling TiO 2 sol-gel technology to make it a competitive way for coating manufacture and processing at an industrial scale

In this work, an eco-friendly sol-gel synthesis of pure and doped TiO 2 , previously developed at lab-scale, is applied in three different environmental applications at lab-scale and then, upscaled towards industrial applications. For each application, the TiO 2 is used as a coating deposited mainly on steel substrates. The three applications are: (i) the development of a photocatalytic reactor made of a UV lamp, an ozonation part and a TiO 2 photocatalytic coating to treat water from swimming pools, (ii) the development of a new generation of low energy sterilizers by an advanced oxidation process using a photocatalytic coating illuminated by a blue LED, and (iii) an easy-to-clean coating for outdoor steel. In each application, the up-scale results were similar to those obtained in the laboratory with respect to the crystallinity, the visual aspect, the hydrophilicity, and the photocatalytic properties of the produced coatings. These developments showed the possibility to bring sol-gel TiO 2 products outside the laboratory towards pilot and industrial applications, and opens the way for many possible up-scaled sol-gel based environmental applications. Graphical Abstract An eco-friendly sol-gel synthesis of pure and doped TiO 2 , previously developed at lab-scale, is applied in three different environmental applications at lab-scale and then, successfully upscaled towards industrial applications.