Tags
Air Pollutants, air pollution, building materials, Cricket House Studios, cricketdiane, diesel exhaust, neutralizing air pollutants, new materials, pollution eating building materials, pollution neutralizing cement, pollution neutralizing paint, smog, smog eating concrete, smog eating paint
I saw something yesterday that got me thinking again.
**
XXX A new lightweight configuration and material – MIT XXX
http://news.mit.edu/2017/3-d-graphene-strongest-lightest-materials-0106
My note – it is the math and surface area it provides that could be both strength and air cleaning in a massive way for cities. It inspired me and so I looked up things about the pollution neutralizing paints and materials / concrete / cement – which I’ve added the things that stood out to me down this list.
**
So today, I made a search in google for
pollution neutralizing paint
**
From those search results –
I chose to read and think about these articles –
2015
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/23/tech/innovation/the-smog-guzzling-buildings-pollution/
An even grander project, the Palazzo Italia, will use similar materials over 13,000 square meters across six floors when it opens in Milan in 2015. Dutch scientists have also adapted the system to roads, claiming this can reduce pollution by 45%.The material is not prohibitively expensive — adding as little as 4-5% to construction costs. But the impact of such buildings has been limited to their immediate location, and efforts to develop the concept have led to more novel, personalized solutions.
**
2007
http://www.triplepundit.com/2007/11/tio2-paint-at-war-with-pollution/
The paint is formulated on a base of polysiloxane, a polymer consisting of silicon. The active ingredients are tiny spherical nanoparticles made up of calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide (TiO2). This polysiloxane base is porous enough to allow nitrous oxides to diffuse through it and effectively stick to the nanoparticles. In turn, sunlight provides the energy to convert the nitrous oxides into nitric acid which is either disposed of by rain or neutralized by the alkaline properties of calcium carbonate and converted into carbon dioxide, calcium nitrate, and water. These profound chemical transformations are triggered by the ultraviolet radiation absorbed by the nanoparticles.
AND
Millenium Inorganic Chemicals, a British R&D firm has developed what they intended to appropriately name “Ecopaint.” This paint utilizes the same photo catalytic process of the anti-smog cement developed and under going testing in Italy.
**
2013
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/nasa-designed-airocide-neutralizes-indoor-pollution.html
NASA-designed Airocide neutralizes indoor air pollution
Called Airocide, this technology “clears the air of virtually 100% of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) – the harmful gasses emitted by products you have around your home, like aerosol sprays, cleaning supplies, disinfectants, hobby supplies, dry-cleaned clothing, building materials, paints and paint thinners, strippers, pesticides and even air fresheners. This FDA approved device also completely eliminates all mold, pollen, fungi, viruses and bacteria (all major causes of allergy symptoms) that enter the chamber,” according to the Airocide website.
AND
Gizmag reports, “Each Airocide unit incorporates a reaction chamber that contains thousands of tiny glass rings coated inside and out with titanium dioxide (TiO2). With the help of a high-intensity light, the TiO2 produces hydroxyls. When airborne organic molecules are drawn in and make contact with those hydroxyls, the carbon bonds in those molecules are broken.”
This process renders any organic compound inert. The hydroxyls cannot escape the chamber and no cleaning is needed, though the chamber does have to be replaced every year. The Airocide is currently priced at $799 and replacement chambers go for $99.
**
The technology has actually been used in places we’ve been visiting for quite some time now. Because ethylene gas causes accelerated ripening, supermarkets, florists and food packers have been using the technology since 1998, and in 2003, Airocide was introduced to hospitals, medical offices and daycare centers to prevent the spread of airborne disease.
**
Then popped from there over to this one –
2011
Dust suppressants consist of calcium magnesium acetate, which is expected to glue particles to the carriageway to stop them re-circulating in the air. TfL will first sweep and jet wash the roads, then apply the solution using a modified winter gritting machine with a fine sprinkler-like system attached.
AND
Head on over to Business Green for the full scoop on Mayor Boris’ pollution glue plan.
which I haven’t gone to see yet, but that article was from 2011
**
Then I made another search on Google using these search terms –
smog eating concrete
**
These are the search returns that I picked to read –
2013
http://www.core77.com/posts/25281/pollution-killing-material-smog-eating-cement-25281
Smog-eating cement first made headlines back in 2007, when it was introduced in the U.S. by the Italian company Italcementi, whose R&D center is pictured below. The cement is called TX Active and the magic ingredient is titanium oxide. When exposed to sunlight, titanium oxide can neutralize some pollutants—basically the toxins are oxidized when they come into contact with the cement. For instance, nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide gasses are made harmless when they are turned into nitrates or sulfates. Without the catalyst of titanium oxide, the nitrogen and sulfur oxide break down in the atmosphere creating smog and ground level ozone.
And
**
2014
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-isnt-smog-gobbling-concrete-more-popular
**
http://smogeatingconcrete.weebly.com/
**
2015
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/smog-eating-buildings-battle-air-pollution-180954781/
**
2016
http://interestingengineering.com/building-covered-smog-eating-concrete/
The concrete is made up of traditional cement mixed with titanium dioxide. This unique mixture allows air to pass through while simultaneously capturing nitrogen-oxide particles, a main component of smog. Titanium dioxide functions as a catalyst to the chemical reaction which is activated by UV light. Not only does it filter the air, but the collected smog residue washes off with a light rainfall. Don’t worry about the residue, it’s made up of inert salts that have no effect on the surrounding environment.
And
In total, it took 2,000 metric tons of the bio dynamic concrete to construct the building and it’s creators at Italcementi claim that it is stronger than the equivalent of regular concrete. This added strength allowed the architects and engineers to create the stunning linear shapes seen on the building’s facade with ease.
CHK this site to see a photo of the building – absolutely stunning and it eats air pollution.
**
Chinese activist-artist raises awareness by sucking up smog into bricks
**
2015
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/08/asia/china-pollution-artist/
Brother Nut’s machine collected over 100 grams of pollutants, much of it made up of small particles some 30 times smaller than a strand of human hair.He then took the dust, mixed it with clay in a mold, and turned it into an average looking brick.The art project went viral, to the point that he now gets stopped on the street by pedestrians wanting to take photos.However, he’s not the first artist to tout a vacuum cleaner as a possible way to clean up the city’s skies.
And
In 2013, a Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde came up with an electro-magnetic device that would pull airborne smog particles to the ground, creating columns of fresh air.
Air pollution can be made of everything from soot to heavy metals like arsenic and lead.
**
2015
As the latest coal-fuelled “airpocalypse” engulfed northern China this week and world leaders gathered in Paris to debate the fight against climate change, Nut Brother hit the streets of Beijing hoping to raise awareness of his country’s deadly smog crisis.
For the last 100 days, the activist, whose real name is Wang Renzheng, has used the industrial appliance to extract dust and other lung-choking pollutants from the city’s atmosphere before transforming them into a dark brown “smog brick”.
And
He ordered a vacuum cleaner from a manufacturer in Shanghai and began taking it on four-hour sorties across Beijing’s urban sprawl, gobbling up pollutants as he went. Photographs published in the Chinese media this week showed him pushing his vacuum cleaner past some of Beijing’s most celebrated landmarks.
And
“You can’t tell if it is night or day!” Liu Haishan, 38, a taxi driver, complained on Tuesday afternoon as he attempted to navigate through the gloom.
Beijing authorities claimed they had forced vehicles off the roads and shut more than 2,000 polluting companiesin order to tackle the crisis.
**
2015
With pollution reaching 40 times the safe level, China’s capital has issued its first red warning, closing down schools and factories until Thursday. These images show Beijing under a layer of smog – and what it looked like on a clear day
**
