METHOD FOR MAKING SURFACE OF BASE MATERIAL PHOTOCATALYTICALLY SUPERHYDROPHILIC, BASE MATERIAL HAVING SUPERHYDROPHILIC PHOTOCATALYTIC SURFACE AND ITS PRODUCTION

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a composite material embodying a high degree of visibility. SOLUTION: The surface of a base material 10 is coated by a wear resistant photocatlytic coating 12 consisting of a semiconductor photocatalyst. When this surface is irradiated with light having a wavelength of the energy higher than the band gap energy of a photocatalyst, water is chemically adsorbed in the form of a hydroxyl group (OH) on the surface and the surface of the photocatlytic coating 12 exhibits a high degree of the hydrophilicity of about <=5 deg. in terms of the contact angle with the water in accordance with the optical excitation. The surface of a mirror, lens or window pane is coated by the photocatlytic coating 12 in the form of using the composite material to give the high defogging property. In addition, when the composite material article coated by the photocatlytic coating 12 is arranged outdoors, the highly hydrophilic surface is self-cleaned by rainfall.