From New Scientist.

[den]

Smog-busting paint soaks up noxious gases

This sounds like a really good idea, and I like it a lot! The down side is that there is less incentive to fix the problem at the source.

Comments

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Well, if we take antienvironmentalists, and render them into noxious gases...

[hafoc.livejournal.com]

Very clever. Like most adsorbent systems it's going to have a very limited capacity; they absorb until the active stuff is used up, then they stop working. But it's a very good idea.

It brings up a NOx reduction system that's new to me. I can see using the uv light- ti-oxide catalyst- calcium carbonate system in a smokestack system for removing NOx. Might be cheaper than the current catalytic converters that commercial stationary IC engines use for this purpose. Plus this sounds like it would work on cold gasses. I'm not sure that the current methods (SNCR, SCR-- that's 'selective non-catalytic reduction' and 'selective catalytic reduction-- probably a few others I'm forgetting at the moment too) work in cold gasses; they're normally used right in the stack of a boiler (or similar) which is hot. Since this system works on cold gasses it might work in air-conditioner-like window boxes, for filtering NOx from the air of asthma patients and other sensitive citizens.

And of course if you painted the interior of your house with adsorbants or neutralizers for pollution, it would have a much greater effect. Because the volume of air inside a house is so tiny, a minor amount of cleaning could have a major effect.

What we really need is paint that would absorb organic toxics. You put new carpet (or whatever) in your house it floods your house with toxic organic compounds. However, as the carpet ages and airs out, the toxics go away. So if your paint absorbed toxics, even if only for a little while, it could make a big difference here too. I'm not sure if anybody has created a paint with activated carbon in it, but if they did it would probably soak up these organic toxics-- provided the solvents in the paint didn't take up the whole capacity of the carbon even before you put the paint on. That's a big problem with this approach; paint itself is a major source of toxics.

Re:

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

You could have a giant catalytic converter at the bottom of the smokestacks, something that can be swapped out and repainted every couple of years.

They give a 5 year active life for the paint. If you painted something like the Sydney Harbour Bridge with it, you'd have an excellent toxin sink and rust-proofing to boot.

Re:

[hafoc.livejournal.com]

It's not going to last years in the base of a stack, because of the much higher concentrations. You could rig a wet scrubber with a catalyst and calcium carbonate in solution, that way constantly replacing the calcium carbonate as it's used up, but a plate painted with this magic paint would get eaten up almost instantly in a high concentration of NOx.

However, a NOx removal system that works on low concentrations is not a BAD thing. The more different special-contition "arrows" we have to our quiver, the more likely one will fit the conditions you're facing.

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

Well it is very interesting..... but it seems a complex (and expensive ) way to accomplish what we already have cheap/easy/pretty tools to do. http://www.hgtv.ca/garden/articles/article49.asp

Re:

[elektron.livejournal.com]

But they don't soak up nitrogen dioxide, which is where most smog comes from. Hong Kong has millions of trees and smog problems.

Of course, everyone should just fix cars.