Self-cleaning surfaces: just add daylight

12th October 2007

Technology used widely in Japan to keep buildings and streets spotless is now available in Europe and is expected to find wide applications in new construction materials and road furniture.

Self-cleaning surfaces

The technology is an affordable performance coating that can be applied to almost any surface.  The coating absorbs ultraviolet light from daylight leading to changes in the chemical and physical characteristics making surfaces self-cleaning and capable of breaking down pollutants, dirt and even bacteria.

TOTO (a major Japanese bathroom, plumbing and kitchen products company) owns the technology, which is protected by a family of more than 270 granted patents and patent applications.  TOTO Frontier Research Ltd (a subsidiary) has exclusive rights to grant licenses under the patent portfolio and worldwide there are more than 80 active licensees, predominantly in Asia.

Oxford University Innovation, the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford, is working with TOTO Frontier Research to find further commercial partners/licensees and identify new applications for self-cleaning surfaces.

“Japan is at the forefront of this photocatalyst technology and the self-cleaning surfaces are already used to protect more than 7000 commercial buildings. We believe the benefits these coatings provide will also be attractive to the European companies and their customers” said Mark Mawhinney, General Manager of Isis Enterprise, the division of Oxford University Innovation that works on non-Oxford discoveries.

“We will use our networks in innovation-intensive companies, to set up partnerships with companies who can benefit from this technology here in the UK and Europe.”

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