Study of the influence of employing TiO2 photocatalytic nanoparticles in urban highway murals on maintenance costs. Case study: Imam Ali Highway murals in Tehran, sustainability

Urban streets and highways are the expressions of the visual environment, and urban streets facades are the main elements influencing the urban environment's quality. On the one hand, murals as Urban Art can play an influential role in improving the quality of the urban facades. On the other hand, maintaining facades with murals is one of the principal challenges for city managers regarding financial dimensions and workforce. This study aims to provide a solution to maintain the quality of the facades in urban highways with murals because highways face many problems compared to other urban spaces due to difficult conditions in the implementation and maintenance of murals.

This study investigated using TiO2 photocatalytic nanoparticles to maintain murals on urban highways. For this purpose, the cost of implementing murals with self-cleaning and non-self-cleaning materials versus cleaning costs facades for ten years was calculated. This comparison has been made on the facades of Imam Ali Highway in Tehran.

Cost estimates show that using self-cleaning paints and coatings containing titanium dioxide reduces the need to clean the facades over time. Furthermore, this will reduce economic and workforce costs and keep the urban facades of the highway clean and the quality of the urban environment improved.

TiO2 photocatalytic nanoparticles can raise the durability of murals and reduce their maintenance costs. This is a promising solution that can execute the aspirations of city managers in maintaining the quality of urban facades.