| abstract |
Disclosed is an inorganic material that is capable of exhibiting excellent photocatalytic gas degradation function, while maintaining wear resistance which inorganic materials are usually required to have. This inorganic material is characterized in that a photocatalyst layer is formed on the surface of an inorganic material base by firing and that the photocatalyst layer contains: photocatalyst particles; zirconia particles having a BET specific surface area of 10 m 2 /g or more, or crystalline zirconia particles having an average crystallite diameter less than 20 nm; and an alkali silicate. This inorganic material, which is provided with the photocatalyst layer, exhibits excellent photocatalytic gas degradation function, while maintaining wear resistance which inorganic materials are usually required to have. |