Slashdot Mirror
Smog Busting Paint Breaks Down Noxious Gasses
jlechem writes "New Scientist is reporting a story about a new paint that can absorb noxious gas. According to the article the new paint is called Ecopaint. The substance is designed to reduce levels of the nitrogen oxides, collectively known as the NOx gases, which cause respiratory problems and trigger smog production. The paint's base is polysiloxane, a silicon-based polymer. Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate 30 nanometres wide. Because the particles are so small, the paint is clear, but pigment can be added. The first paint to go on sale will of course be white."
I've been eating a lot of onions lately.. I NEED this paint!
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Maybe I could tell all of the ladies that I absorb noxious gases instead of emitt them, and that explains my pastiness.
But I doubt they would believe that
Chaos will always win out over order because chaos is more organized
would just paint the inside of my lungs, I may be able to jog in Toronto in the mornings.
Sure this sounds like great news. Here comes the science...
:-)
What happens when the paint is saturated? Sure it works to a point, but will additional coats of paint over revitalize production, or are we looking at a long term problem when the paint fails and begins soaking up noxious chemicals that could leak and cause a really nasty effect on the environment? Furthermore, did anyone read this sentence in the article and become slightly shocked? "The acid is then either washed away in rain, or neutralised by the alkaline calcium carbonate particles, producing harmless quantities of carbon dioxide, water and calcium nitrate, which will also wash away."
So it either causes acid rain, or it cleans the environment?
are they going to paint cars with it?
When your house has absorbed all the noxious gasses it can handle, simply declare the neighborhood low-rent and move to a new subdivision painted with a fresh coat of Ecopaint!
grammar-lesson free since 1999. (rescinded - 2005)
the kids who chew this stuff off the window sill is going to get nitrogen oxide poisoning?
What?
"a new paint that can absorb noxious gas"....
Just what I need... my house coated in noxious gas. I'm sure this stuff will give lead paint a run for it's money.
This will come in handy in the bathroom
... but somebody was going to say it ...
I know
I'd be interested to know how the paint will fare over time while it absorbs gases.... will it discolour?
This stuff is safe with no side effects. Won't cause cancer in humans. Safe if it gets into the groundwater, sewer, and streams? Tested for a long enough period of time in a wide enough number of uses to prove it is as safe and effective as normal paint base?
Just like when they used steel pipes in houses (which corrode from the inside out) rather than lead?
No thanks. I'll wait for proof before I paint even a bench with that stuff.
"New Scientist is reporting..." translation = "As seen on fark yesterday..."
Let's at least make a half-assed attempt at giving credit where credit is due.
What about the paint when it is finally 'full' and cannot clean anymore? Is there any other way to clean the paint? Or will another coat just be applied?
Clever. Very clever. It reminds me of the concept of the catalytic-converter car radiator coating which would eat atmospheric ozone; this one consumes ozone precursors, but WTF?
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
Now, given the nature of the pain to absorb noxious chemicals, wouldn't we be seeing a problem of entire neighborhoods where the houses are literally big cubes of smog? Secondly, and this may be scientifically wrong, because it is just absorbing the NOx gases, not necessarily the smog itself, but isn't there a chance of discoloration of the paint after application? Would that beautiful white house become LA-brown within a couple years?
A paint that soaks up smog? I think we need to stop driving cars that pollute the air in the first place.
---
http://spaceruckus.web1000.com
These guys are putting together a free 3D action/adventure game.
Free Wii Points
And now are you gonna get the paint off? You sure cant sand it.
Could this paint also be applied directly on pollution sources, such as on the inside of car tail pipes or the inside surface of smoke stacks?
That would seem like a more logical place to apply this paint, though applying it to roads and other surfaces probably doesn't hurt, either.
In 2002, after 7000 square metres of road surface in Milan, Italy, were covered with a catalytic cement, residents reported that it was noticeably easier to breathe - with the concentration of nitrogen oxides at street level cut by up to 60 per cent.
None of the usual "20% decrease in XYZ, 30% lower levels of ABC", plain and simple "it makes a difference noticeable to people".
Interesting technology, but the "paint will begin to discolor after approximately 5 years" may discourage widespread deployment.
Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
I seem to recall TO2 being a fairly nasty chemical to produce, using lots of Chlorine in production, etc. (Of course, high-school chem was a while back...) Is using the paint a net benefit to the environment? If not, what's the point?
Didn't Volvo do this already, back in the mid-90's? I seem to remember something about a coating on their cars that converted nasty airborne pollutants into nice-smelling fuzzy bunnies or something....
Paint your bedroom walls with this stuff to keep from becoming like the man in story number 5.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
In goes noxious gas (pun intended) and out comes a weak acid. Put a ring of limestone gravel or pavers around the base of the building and even that would be neutralized.
Of course the bigger question is if this paint and other materials like it are cheaper then catching the gasses closer at their sources, or at least ensuring those sources aren't so close to folk's lungs and other living creatures not appreciative of such.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
"Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide"
In other words, "It looks white".
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PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
Paint is often supposed to protect surfaces from corrosion. In this case the paint collects nitrous oxide gasses and makes nitric acid, a very corrosive chemical. The paint is porous so we can have nitric acid within the paint, perhaps even close to the surface you want to protect. Now will that nitrous acid destroy whatever the paint was supposed to protect? Perhaps a good coat of different, non-porous paint below this paint will protect the surface, but if there are any deep scratches at least they may corrode much faster due to nitric acid.
Are these paint chips edible? That is what I want to know.
It is worth noting that the NOx from smog already forms nitric acid, which sticks to surfaces. Nitric acid is very "sticky" in this regard, and when it rains or the humidity gets very high, it corrodes the surfaces on which it has been deposited. This occurs even without the catalyst. In effect, the new paint won't be a big change- nitric acid will continue to be deposited, but at a higher rate- and preferentially on surfaces with the catalyst, which has a modest amount of calcium carbonate to neutralize the product.
On the bright side, if calcium carbonate is used for neutralization, the calcium nitrate is actually fertilizer. Yum for the plants.
RTFA. It says clearly in there that when NOx is absorbed, it absorbs UV light from the sun and converts all of the stuff into either nitric acid, or a trio of carbon dioxide, water, and calcium nitrate, which all wash away in water.
If you read the article you'll see a nice and practically useless image where it shows that NOx is broken down to harmless stuff like water and oxygen. Don't ask me HOW exactly. Anyways, once the calcium carbonate runs out, the nitric acid will not be nuetralized. ( good read up on a chem textbook regarding bases ( like calcium carbonate ) and acids, especially how they affect eachother ) Having a whole load of acid building up inside your paint isnt a good thing but according to the article it will just discolour the paint. While the Titanium Oxide will happily continue to absorb more NOx and thus create more acid.
So basically, nowadays you have to paint once every 5 years because the smog attacks the paint. Now you have to paint once every 5 years because the paint attacks the smog.
Hate me!
It looks like the paint is a catalyst for the decomposition of nitrogen oxides. I guess it would only get saturated if the products couldn't be washed away, or if the reaction couldn't occur (e.g. in a shady place or something).
I meant that when you have 5600 layers of this shit all over every city, are we looking at a serious problem? Yeah one layer works, but nobody knows what the long term effect of this will be, except us cynics, right? :-)
Bottom layer is an acid-sensitive primer, top layer is Ecopaint. When the buffering capacity of the Ecopaint is exhausted, the acid works its way down to the primer, which de-bonds. When the Ecopaint is peeling, it's time to power-wash and put on a new coat.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
Whats next? my prediction.... FUD busting paint. //we could paint darl's house and sing kumbaya around durring a candle light vigil.
I rest my case.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
Really, the places that have the highest concentration of vehicles - downtowns - seem to be almost entirely cement, glass, and brick. Out in the suburbs there's houses with paint on them, but there's not much pollution out there...unless you live in southern California. Cement might actually be more useful because there are more cement surfaces than painted surfaces in high-density parts of town.
The definition of a liberal: I may disagree with what you have to say, but I'll fight for your right to say it
/cliche
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
The Titaninum oxide is a catalyst, so it is not consumed. The calcium carbonate is just there to neutralize the acid that is produced on the catalyst. So, the paint will never get sauruated with acids. I'll bet that they catalyst will keep working without the calcium carbonate & that the resulting nitric acid will just wash off, probably into some nearby concrete, which aso has a lot of calcium carbonate to neutralize the nitric acid. Besides, a little nitric acid isn't all that bad as a pollutant... you can safely wash it down the drain.
Think global, act loco
Well, you could start by RTFA. The titanium breaks down the gasses into nitric acid that is converted to harmless carbon dioxide, water and calcium nitrate by carbonate particles. These are then washed away by the rain. When the carbonate particles break down (five years in heavily polluted areas), the paint will keep converting the gas to nitric acid that still washes away.
Sounds like a great idea to me.
The concentrated acid rain is eroding your wall, there is little protection to your wall by puting a ring of limestone around the base of the building. When the rain got absorbed into concrete through tiny cracks, it is eroding the structural steel bar/beam. But you might consider sprinkling the building exterior with lime water and make the window cleaning guys rich becuase when lime water dries up, a smear remain on the glass, someone has to clean it.
Someone's going to get sued when a bunch of environmentalists decide to "make a statement" and paint themselves with this stuff.
Unfortunately, this paint doesn't seem to help with the hydrocarbons released by plants that can contribute to smog.
Oak trees, for example, give off isoprene, which combined with water and sunlight create formaldehyde.
Trees have been blamed for up to 65 percent of ozone-forming chemicals in cities such as Houston.
I think I need some of this in my shorts.
Must stop consuming so much curry and beer.
Never, ever lose a file again. Ever.
They should use this in a catalytic converter ... Rather than using an expensive reduction catalyst to produce gas, they could use the TiO to produce a little nitric acid (or salt if you add the Calcium carbonate). IF this would work, it might save some money ... Platinum is not cheap.
Think global, act loco
Now, if we have a chemical reaction that eat's smog, why not just spray-paint it onto gravel (to get tons of surface area) with a permeable case. That way you just change-out the 'potpourie' every couple of years without bothering to re-paint.
If you want to REALLY filter the air, use a fan (or the wind generated by speeding cars) to force the air through the scrubber.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Along with the already mentioned rtfa, I should mention I am a chemist/materials...The real concern about these materials is the slowly accumulating data saying that there MIGHT be unforeseen medical issues with the particles used in the paint. As a substance, its invisible. TiOx is only White when its big enough. These are an order of magnitude smaller...totally transparent as long as the matrix material is. Otherwise: over time these materials will last longer and longer if they are used in a widespread manner as they will be able to bind the local discolorants and make them scoopable essentially....what some might see as a discolored paint should properly be considered as a akin to kitty litter. Replace when used.
I wonder how much pollution and energy is used in MAKING this paint.
Is it actually a greater problem releasing toxins and burning energy to produce this paint than it is capable of absorbing.... I'd bet $$ yes.
Hmmmm. Actually, given that heat helps to speed up this reaction, I would think that the best initial color would probably be black (absorbs heat). That would be the right way. :P
/reverseRacism
Just like in everything else:
White before right!
The titanium dioxide is a catalyst. It catalyzes a reaction between NO2 and water to produce nitric acid, HNO3. This reacts with calcium carbonate, CaCO3 (basically chalk) in the paint to produce water, carbon dioxide, and calcium nitrate:
CaCO3 + 2HNO3 -> H2O + CO2 + Ca(NO3)2.
The titanium dioxide is not consumed in the reaction, but the chalk is, and when it runs out, your paint fills up with nitric acid, which is not good. However, the reaction that causes the formation of nitric acid happens at a slower rate on its own, it is one source of acid rain.
Calcium nitrate is not noxious; it's basically fertilizer. However, too much nitrate runoff will cause problems with excessive algae growth in water, which can drop the oxygen level low enough to kill fish. Just the same, there's a lot more nitrate runoff from farmers and lawns than you're likely to get from this stuff.
The article states that the noxious chemicals do not build up in the paint...but I'm not quite convinced of that. BTW I'm pretty sure a build-up of acidic chemicals on the outside of your building is not a good thing ;-P
:-o
"Ah yeah, these skyscrapers last for about 5 years and then they melt...dunno why though..."
But seriously...
I'm wondering whether or not after 5 or 10 years you would get scenes similar to asbestos-removal hype:
People in protective suits very carefully remove the (toxic) paint from the outside of the building so that it can be demolished 'safely'.
Of course you could just paint over it...but then you would get layer upon layer of (highly?) toxic paint on the outside of the building - which would guarantee the 'protective suit' scenario
Better to attack the source and stop polluting in the first place.
For example, here in NZ there is no exhaust-gas emmission-testing for vehicles, like they have in (some of) Europe - the result is that on some days Auckland has a worse smog problem then eh...mexico-city.
Just for the record, calcium carbonate (yes, it's the same stuff Tums is made of) is actually a buffer, not a base. Go grab yourself a litmus strip and several Tums. Crush the Tums up and dissolve them in a cup of water. Play with the litmus enough to convince yourself that your solution has a pH of 7.
But, yes, it does neutralize acids. Bases, too.
I used to work in a coal burning power plant where they are required to run catalytic scrubbers to remove some of the NO2 before releasing it. While walking above the boilers one day I inhaled a lungful of something noxious that about knocked me off my feet and the safety engineer later said it was probably an NO2 leak. It felt like a chemical burn in all my respiratory passages for days. Anyway that is an environment where NO2 gas is highly concentrated and the workers there could be partially protected by painting the offices, breakrooms, turbine rooms, etc. with this stuff.
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
This story could not have come at a better time. I just got done with a lovely dinner of chili, cheese, and beer. P00t-- um, I mean, w00t!
Racist manufacturers. :)
My favourite part of the article (with a different substance):
In 2002, after 7000 square metres of road surface in Milan, Italy, were covered with a catalytic cement, residents reported that it was noticeably easier to breathe - with the concentration of nitrogen oxides at street level cut by up to 60 per cent.
60% percent less nitrogen oxides in less than a year? Hell, coat my lungs with it. Even if if has to be reapplied every couple of years, it would be worth it to apply the cement version to streets, and roads and the paint version to buildings. Dunno about the whole discolouration thing, though.
Wonder how long it'll be now that we have photocatalytic paint before someone comes up with photovoltaic paint that can produce significant power? Even cooler if they could be combined.
Have you ever seen NO2? It's orange. It's a gas. It's an acid. It *is* smog. It's like the sixth most powerful acid of all acids or thereabouts (when mixed with water of course... producing nitric acid... H20 + NO2 --> H2NO3). The cool thing is that the right catalyst (cars have catalytic converters which do this, as well as get rid of CO) will turn it into harmless Nitrogen and Oxygen. The uncool part is that it's also easy to make, just mix Nitrogen and Oxygen (uh, like air) at high temperature and pressure (like in an engine).
No, it doesn't literally absorb gas.. It breaks NOx down with solar power and releases it as "carbon dioxide, water and calcium nitrate, which will also wash away."
How is this plant supposed to photosynthesyze without cloraphyl. I thought cloraphyl was what gave plants their green pigment. Without cloraphyl, the plant won't be able to get energy without cloraphyl
Why is the first color to go on sale white? Are hardware stores unable to use the standard color additives to custom mix paint? If so, are non-standard color additives available for custom mixing?
I can just see this being the defence used to keep somking areas in restaurants etc...
"Now with the advent of fume busting paint...."
"Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate 30 nanometres wide."
Couldn't these spherical nanoparticles do serious damage if it settled in our lungs? I've heard that our lungs can't remove particles smaller than 30 micrometers wide.
If more people followed it, then perhaps we would not have so much NOx in the air in the first place.
Now if we could only develop a smog that breaks down lead-based paint....
Anti-gravity? That was *my* little secret! But I never patented it! Boy, was *that* dumb!
The fact that the paint is trying to address environmental problems will probably make people have even greater worries about what chemicals it puts into the ground water etc..
People should realize that all paints and coatings end up in the environment.
I admit this is intriguing science. The most interesting thing about pollution reducing coatings to work, there will need to be a unique formula for each city. I live in a city where the worst pollution days happen in the dead of winter with temperature around 30 degrees farenheit. Other cities get bad during the heat.
It is an interesting science, but not a one size fits all science.
this sh*t just doesn't make sense.. if you paint something with this it will become coated with toxic waste.. they'd better off by making a device that capture these noxious gases and store the toxic waste safely. Let paint do it's: protect stuff, not endanger.
I see... almost.
I totally suck at chemistry (physics was my thing), how does a catalyst catalyse? And does it get used up?
Send lawyers, guns, and money!
As a firefighter, I have to ask the question of what happens when it burns. If all these toxins are intentionally captured into the paint, are they released when it burns? Would this mean that people will have even less time to escape from a fire?
New Scientist is reporting a story about a new paint that can absorb noxious gas.
I heard that Darl McBride got the first stocks of this to paint on the wall facing his desk.
Including your Hummer and all of the busses that go around. Then the problems will solve themselves!
Read the ENTIRE description before you post.
"Because the particles are so small, the paint is clear"
Idiot
Correct spelling is offtopic? What is this - Slashdot?
I have discovered a truly remarkable
What happens if you huff this paint? Can the vapors from the paint absorb noxious gases as well as the paint itself can, and if so, is it enough to cancel out the fact the paint fumes are themselves noxious? Inquiring minds want to know.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
it in some way offers an alternate reaction path that is more favorable. Some catalysts work by providing a surface to which the reactants stick. I suspect that is what is happening here since making microbeads of titanium dioxide would maximize the surface area and thus the potential catalytic effect. By definition catalysts are not used up in the reaction that they catalyse.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
Forgive my ignorance.
So the paint absorbs NOx's? What are the chances of an explosion? I am not a chemist. But for my factoid of the day -- NOx containing compunds tend to be the explosive ones. Right?
The way paint is sold today, all nearly paint is shipped to the store as a white base. The store is also machine that contains a rainbow of concentrated pigment colors. The various colors that are shown in paint chips equate to a formula of the concentrated pigments that need to be added to the base. A computer instructs the machine to squirt in the right pigments in the right quanities to make the requested color, the cover is hammered back on and then another machine shakes the paint to blend it. The cover is taken off, a dab of the paint is put on the color to mark what it is, and then the cover is placed back on, and it's ready to go.
So I highly doubt the only-in-white limitation on this will hold for very long...
Does it run Linux?
(/end cliche Slashdot post)
except ABS does worse on a dirt road vs. locking the wheel. It is due to build up of material in the front of the wheel getting wedged down when the wheel locks.
Yes, but when the paint is new, the Nitric Acid is supposed to be absorbed by the calcium carbonate particles that are also embedded in the paint. This second reaction does use up the calcium carbonate (by converting it to calcium nitrate), and when this happens, the acid stays in the paint, discoloring it. This is supposed to happen after 5 years. So, in order to stay efficient, you need to repaint every 5 years.
stop PRODUCING the smog.
*sigh*
> The first paint to go on sale will of course be white
someone notify Al Sharpton!
My dad usually lights a match after a nasty bathroom episode. If the walls absorbed that, what would happen when the match was struck? I guess it gives a whole new meaning to taking the paint off the walls...
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
The surface area of large SUV vehicles is far greater than that of small compact cars. Therefore, they can have a far greater positive impact on the environment when painted with this paint than the little pod cars.
Voila! I can see Detroit getting behind this paint bigtime.
---
...will it get 5 years worth of methane out?
Berrik
Current karma: Terrible (due to mods without a sense of humor)
the general highschool example of a catalyst is dropping some cigarette ashes on sugar. Without the ashes, you can hold a lighter next to the sugar and practically nothing will happen, but with the ashes in there the sugar will easily ignite, since the ashes allow for an alternate route for the sugar to react with oxygen(burn). Once the sugar has burnt up, you'll still have the same amount of ashes left that you started with, albeit likely embedded in a pile of black smelly goo :-)
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Cut nitrous intake? A million Phish fans weep.
asbestos!
It is the miracle product of our time:
- It can't burn up, so you can use it to protect your house from fire. Think of it: no more fire in your home!
- It can be used to protect innocent firemen while extuingishing other nasty fires.
- You can process it in baby-clothing, to protect him/her from any harm !
- You can put it on the stove, so your food doesn't burn up!
Asbestos makes your life better !
...
Now that we know it's poisonous, that gives me a few questions about this product also: how do we know it doesn't harm us directly?
And er... does it have anything to do with red phosphourus ?
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
... houses look dirtier since all paint was mandated to "prevent" smog, while scientific tests prove this shit to be "totally worthless" in all it's claims. How many useless walls would you need to clean Los Angeles? Wouldn't it make sense to control emissions at the source from two-stroke engines (lawn mowers, leaf-blowers, etc.), Diesel engines, and industry? Why didn't we sign the Kyoto protocol? We should spend more effort on ways to use less resources and use resources more efficiently, such as Fuel Cells as energy storage instead of batteries, solar-assisted preheating of household water, energy recovery (shower drain, drier exhaust, etc.), Mylar/vacuum surrounded hot-water pipes and more. For example, surface-air heat-exchange is extremely inefficient, why the hell do server farms still use big-ass HVAC with fans in servers? Those fans produce heat and require current. Why aren't there redundant liquid cooling of components? A data center in Alaska or other remote region could utilize both hydroelectric power and cooling capabilties of the environment (within reason). It would be quiet, and the interconnects/couplers could easily be made durable and rack/blade-compatible. Redunant pumps and valves and pairs of lines into every heatsink would ensure real redundancy. HVAC/Heat-sink/fans are just not up to the energy-density task of heat removal in an efficient manner.
Humans, the most ecologically-altering specie ever.
The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
DNS-and-BIND comments "Why don't we concentrate a wee bit more on USING LESS" ...
I agree, lets actually TRY to NOT create waste products so gratuiutously. This seems to me as analagous to having sponges soak up our toxic wastes, now what do we do with the sponges ?
--anon--
...we could slather on Congress and the Executive and see if they stop stinking up the place?
Calcium has a valency of 1, so your equation is incorrect.
Ca2CO3 + 2 HNO3 -> 2 CaNO3 + H2O + CO2
The parent post has wrong equation.
Ca2CO3 + 2HNO3 -> H2O + CO2 + 2 CaNO3
Ca(NO3)2 does not exist... My last chemistry class was like 20 years ago and I still remember that Calcium (Ca) has only 1 outer electron.
So then we instead have toxic paint after it's absorbed all those toxins, apparently everyone forgot about lead poisoning.
I wonder who didn't read the article? In a typical 0.3-millimetre layer, there will be enough calcium carbonate to last five years in a heavily polluted city. . . When the carbonate has been exhausted, the titanium dioxide will continue to break down NOx, but the acid this produces will discolour the paint.
Say that's not "used up" and I'll just laugh.
what i would like to know is that will there be car paints like this? Probably not because i :D and cheaper ofc.
see few problems --> 5 years lifetime and for
it to be effective you cannot put lacquer on
top of it... or perhaps this kind of lacquer,
as it is in itself is colorless it could be
perhaps a perfect lacquer! (just came up with this)
So it starts to fade the paint in 5years?
whats the big deal if it is lacquer? the fading
effect is much smaller then, and wouldn't touch
the real paint surface if there would be ordinary
lacquer behind it. even perhaps somekind
of lacquer which doesn't break down on something
on which this "EcoPaint" does, between
"Ecopaint" lacquer and the real paint surface,
thus it would ease a lot of changing the surface
lacquer every 5 to 10 years
Also as lacquer it could be applied in cars,
altho is there any idea as most people wax their
cars...
Also, goverment should perhaps give something for
corporations using this kind of paint in big cities, this paint is most surely a lot more
expensive, and thus not very attractive choice,
but if goverment gives some aid. and the plus
said for goverment is that it would drop the
cash spent on pollution cleaning stuff.
Pulsed Media Seedboxes
Catching the gasses closer to the source? Ask the folks who live in the Steel Belt about that. White paint is full of TiO2 anyway. This is why cars with white paint rust out faster. Painting wood with this paint will provide nutrients to fungi and bacteria which will make your house rot faster. The key is not to generate the crap in the first place.
something to rid me of my girlfriend's lactose
intolerant farts...thank god!
****--- A fortune cookie once told me the meaning of life...so I ate it. ---****
Not sure what to call disinformation that tries to counter FUD, but there should be a word for it. The original poster is correct about short people, even those wearing seat belts, being at risk with air-bags. Children under twelve are at risk from air bags because of their height; the bag can smack them in the face. (see here: nhtsa.dot.gov). My wife the pediatrician confirms this info.
:-)
That said, I want a car with ABS and air-bags, too.
Regards, Jeff Cagle
Human being (n.): A genetically human, genetically distinct, functioning organism.
Thanks for introducing images your dads feces, farts, ass hair and pathetic rituals in to my head.
Thanks pal.
You mean, like, the braking distance will be shorter when pumping then with ABS? Don't be too sure of this.
Btw you're also likely screwed when you pump anyway, because you are likely to get into the oncoming traffic, or hit a tree. Just hit the brake and never release it, wether your car has ABS or not. The big difference is that with ABS you can still steer.
"have a friend, who is a dwarf"
role playing games are not reality
The smog that most people care about is ozone: ozone is formed from a cycle involved NOx, VOCs, (volatile organic carbons), light, and the hydroxyl radical (OH radical).
NO2 + hv -> NO + O
O + O2 -> O3
NO + O3 -> NO2 + O2
which would be a closed cycle, except you can skip the last step by doing:
NO + RO2(rad) -> NO2 + RO(rad)
where RO2(rad) is a result of the reaction of VOCs and OH(rad).
So taking NO2 out of the cycle will be great for reducing ozone production.
And yeah, the problem is not only that it is easy to make NOx with combustion, but that the more efficient your engine (in terms of burning less fuel for the same energy) the more NOx it produces (usually).
-Marcus
Got NOx ?
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Anyone who takes chemistry advice from an AC instead of the periodic table deserves what they get.
I'm gonna go repaint my smokestacks right away! No more guilt for me!
SAILING MISHAP
IANA physical chemist and I haven't read the article (my bad). When I first saw this I wondered if it might be better to use this catalyst in something with an amazingly high surface area like a spongy radiator, and draw air through it at high power, rather than just go for the (maybe) relatively low surface area of a house. Then I saw a quote about the porosity of the paint being useful for drawing the NO2 into it, so it seems the paint is a 3-dimensional catalytic reactor or whatever you call it. Neat!
So my question is how much actual surface area is being used, if everything happens at an air-paint interface, or if not then how much NO2 can be catalyzed per hour per volume of paint? Would it be doubled if a few coats of paint were used, etc.
The first paint to go on sale will of course be white.
Followed closely by eggshell, ivory, ice, buff, linen, winter, antique, champagne, candlelight, ecru, snow, alabaster, bone, pearl, oyster, bisque, frost, china, dove, cotton, cloud, and cream.
If we get smart and change most of our transport energy from internal combustion to electric, we'll also get rid of much of the nitrogen oxides we generate. At that point the lifespan of the paint might increase to 10 years or more, long enough that surfaces will be repainted because of weathering before the buffering wears out.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
I just thought that while you guys are enjoying the discussion on this new paint a broader prespective might help to return us to our biological needs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A148 7-2004Jan31_3.html
Oops. Seems like someone forgot, titaneoxide is toxic. When something is ground that nicely (nanopowderish) it goes straight through your skin. That why your chance of skin cancer is about the same even when you use protection. The TO2 goes inte your skin and damages your DNA (it is a heavy metal you know). So what happens when all the paint gets scraped off and we breathe the dust from the paint? Not good.
Always look around the corner