Toto Ltd.

Shinji Tanaka

Yoshimitsu Saeki

Yasushi Nakashima

Hideki Kobayashi

Yoshitaka Mayumi

Tatsuhiko Kuga

Junji Kameshima

Hiroyuki Fujii

Kazuya Tsujimichi

Tomoaki Morikawa

Disclosed are antifouling material possessing excellent surface antifouling properties, particularly excellent antifouling activity against greasy stains and soils, a process for producing the same, and a coating composition and an apparatus for the antifouling material. The antifouling material comprises: a substrate; and an inorganic layer consisting essentially of an amorphous metal oxide, the inorganic layer containing an alkali metal and non-bridging oxygen in an amount effective in removing contaminants, derived from an exhaust gas, adhered on the surface of the inorganic layer by cleaning using running water alone to restore the diffuse reflectance of the surface of the inorganic layer to not less than 75% of the initial diffuse reflectance, the inorganic layer constituting the outermost fixed layer of the antifouling material.

Stainproof material and method for manufacturing the same, and coating composition and apparatus thereof

Disclosed is a method and an apparatus are provided which can efficiently produce a functional material having a satisfactory level of photocatalytic activity. A photocatalyst coating composition comprising a photocatalytic metal oxide and/or a precursor of the photocatalytic metal oxide is coated on the surface of a substrate. The surface of the coated substrate is rapidly heated to fix the photocatalytic metal oxide onto the surface of the substrate. This rapid heating can realize the production of a functional material having a satisfactory level of photocatalytic activity in an efficient manner. The apparatus, which can continuously carry out the rapid heating immediately after the production of the substrate, can produce the functional material having photocatalytic activity in an efficient manner.

Method and apparatus for producing a photocatalytic material

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Kitakyushu, Japan

Shinji Tanaka