24 Self-cleaning efficiency of nanoparticles applied on facade bricks

This chapter is a short review about the self-cleaning efficiency of facade bricks. Facades are the important elements of buildings which define the buildings' appearance. Facades should look clean for as long as possible without necessity of frequent renewal. It is possible by addition of self-cleaning nanoparticles to the bricks. In this chapter the degradation of building facades by natural and artificial agents is described. A short description of superhydrophobic additives is also given. There are information about photocatalytic and superhydrophilic additives. In the subsections the methods of self-cleaning facade preparation, determination of self-cleaning properties, and assessment of durability are described.