The German industrial standard DIN 52980:2008 is used to compare the photocatalytic activity of different products. In the past, there have always been strong fluctuations in the measurement results in practice and a number of weaknesses in the current procedure have also been identified in the scientific literature.
As part of a BMWi-funded project, the partners MRC Systems GmbH (Heidelberg), BCE Special Ceramics GmbH (Mannheim), the Research Institute Glass/Ceramics FGK (Höhr-Grenzhausen) and the Fraunhofer IST (Braunschweig) have developed proposals for adjustments and innovations in a draft revision of the standard. In addition to a new test method for large-format samples, new test standards were also developed. These consist of long-term stable ceramics with a defined graded photocatalytic coating. They were characterized and examined with regard to their reusability. A round robin test coordinated by the Fraunhofer IST shows that the measurement results using the standard developed in the project and the new test methodology are significantly more precise and reliable than with the original method: The coefficient of variation of the comparative precision is now only 4.95% instead of the original 30.6%.
