Technical insights of clean and sustainable photocatalytic concrete: A scientometric analysis–aided review

Abstract

Air quality has deteriorated rapidly in recent decades due to exponential economic growth, necessitating effective solutions to mitigate pollution. One promising approach is the use of photocatalytic concrete containing TiO₂, which, when activated by sunlight, can degrade various contaminants. This study provides a comprehensive scientometric-based review of research on photocatalytic concrete, focusing on literature published between 1997 and 2024. The review employs a scientometric analysis to identify the key trends, frequent keywords, publication sources, and leading nations. Furthermore, comprehensive review was conducted to evaluate various properties of photocatalytic concrete, highlighting research gaps, field project assessments, challenges and life-cycle cost evaluations. The findings reveal that while photocatalytic concrete demonstrates significant pollutant degradation under laboratory conditions, there is a notable scarcity of data on its real-world applications. The review underscores the need for more extensive field studies to verify its effectiveness and to expand research on its properties and applications. Overall, this review offers valuable insights into the current state of photocatalytic concrete technology, its limitations, and the opportunities for its advancement in sustainable construction practices.