a thin, clear, colourless coating of the semiconductor anatase titania, which requires UV light to photogenerate the necessary electrons (e−) and holes (h+), in its conductance and valence bands, respectively, to promote the photocatalytic process. A schematic of the key processes behind the photocatalytic mineralisation of an organic pollutant on the surface of a titania photocatalyst film is illustrated in figure 1 and the overall reaction is summarised by: (1) Water molecules—adsorbed to the photocatalyst—are also needed to generate the hydroxyl groups on the surface. The marketing of photocatalytic products and prevention of counterfeiting is made difficult because the photocatalytic coatings are usually and necessarily invisible to the eye. One way to achieve a visual demonstration of photocatalysis is to use a dyestuff, like methylene blue, dissolved in water, as the organic species to be mineralised, since, as the photocatalytic process proceeds, the colour of the dye disappears as it is oxidised. This approach forms the basis of a well-established ISO test for photocatalytic activity of films ISO. However, most photocatalyst commercial products use only a thin layer of titania (e.g. ca. 15 nm thick in self-cleaning glass) and ambient UV levels are often low (e.g. for a sunny day in the UK the UVA irradiance is only ca. 4 mW/cm2). As a consequence, the photocatalytic oxidative bleaching of methylene blue is usually very slow, taking many hours, and so inappropriate for marketing at least. Theory Photocatalyst activity indicator inks are a recent advance in the visual demonstration of photocatalysis and the assessment of the activity of photocatalyst materials. They are inexpensive, easy to use and provide a very quick route to demonstrating the presence of a photocatalytic film, even under low levels of UV light. Unlike the photo-oxidative bleaching of methylene blue, they use the underlying semiconductor photocatalyst film to photoreduce the dye (Dox in figure 2), in the ink coating, to another (usually colourless) form, (Dred in figure 2) whilst simultaneously oxidising an easily oxidised organic species, a sacrificial electron donor (SED), such as glycerol, which is also present in the ink. The kinetics of reduction of the dye in a paii have been studied in great detail. Figure 2 illustrates the basic principles of operation of a paii when applied to a product that has a thin photocatalyst film coating. Practice The ink is applied to the photocatalyst coating, usually using either a felt-tipped pen, air-brush, rubber