Slippery concrete for sanitation

Abstract

Limited by economy and water resource, dry concrete toilet is still widely applied in the developing countries and water-scarce areas because of their low cost and good durability. However, urine and excrement are easily adhered to the dry concrete toilet, releasing bad smell, nourishing bacteria, and spreading diseases, which poses threats to human health and environment safety. Here, a new dry concrete toilet with a slippery surface was developed to mitigate the aforementioned challenges. Micro-scale porous structures, macro-scale grooves, and oil-storage tanks were designed and fabricated to trap and supply enough oil, thus forming a stable slippery oil layer and providing high self-healing ability. The artificial urine and excrement dropped on the slippery concrete toilet spontaneously and easily slid off without water-flushing, even after 13.6 m abrasion with the pressure of 2.0 kPa. Compared with the ordinary surface, bacteria and odor of 5 wt% ammonia water left on the slippery concrete surface were reduced by 64 % and 96 %. More interestingly, the slippery concrete toilet can be endowed with different colors to satisfy the different aesthetic requirements. Therefore, the developed slippery concrete toilet has promising application prospect in maintaining hygiene and reducing the spread of disease in many areas.