1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to agents that are designed to continuously exert excellent sterilizing and deodorant effects, etc. for a long period of time through being adhered to the surfaces of the substrates such as paper, textiles, plastics, metals, ceramics and compound products.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art there exists sterilizing and deodorizing agents. However, these agents are either of a solid or liquid form. The solid agents are related technologies, but utilize the oxidation-reduction ability of a photocatalyst. While the photocatalyst can function over long periods of time, they can only function in the presence of UV light and do not function in the dark. The liquid agents, such as alcohol and chlorine agents, do not normally require light, but only function for short periods of time and either evaporate and/or deteriorate quickly. Still further, generally many of the liquid sterilizing agents are toxic and therefore have the disadvantage of burdening the environment.
While these photocatalysts have sterilizing and deodorizing effects wherein bacteria, viruses, allergens, and various odor causing organic materials are decomposed by radicals, they are produced through the oxidation-reduction reaction occurring on the surfaces of photocatalysts or photocatalysts in the presence of UV light. However, because the oxidation-reduction reaction only occurs at the interface of photocatalysts and the reaction is very weak under the visible light, photocatalysts are regarded as problematic in that they are not useful in dark environments.
To make these photocatalysts useful, attempts, such as increasing the content of photocatalysts or selecting the right crystal structure, have been made to solve the above problem. However, the aforementioned decomposition utilizing the oxidation-reduction reaction does not have the ability to choose what to decompose or what not to decompose; in other words, all organic materials that exist close to the photocatalyst are decomposed. Consequently, photocatalysts have another problem in that a substrate with photocatalysts and an organic material with photocatalysts crumble when the oxidation-reduction reaction is too strong.
In addition, the prior art agents also have the disadvantage of burdening the environment.