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."
the kids who chew this stuff off the window sill is going to get nitrogen oxide poisoning?
What?
I'd be interested to know how the paint will fare over time while it absorbs gases.... will it discolour?
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
At least it will be obvious when a new coat is needed.
I can see this stuff being required by ordnance in cities, especially places like Los Angeles and Beijing, where air pollution is a major issue.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
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.
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).
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?
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...
Get a modern car with dual stage airbags. My mom is small and sits very close to the steering column but I have very little fear of her being hurt by it because her chair contains a sensor that notifies the airbag deployment circuitry of this and so it will go off with apropriate force.
Most of the anti-ABS whacko's shut up when Car and Driver had some of the worlds top racecar drivers do a shootout with a vehicle which had ABS factor, they had one of their editors do a 0-60-0 run with ABS, then had 5 drivers try to beat his distance with the ABS disabled, only Michael Schumaker was able to do it, if only one of five pro drivers can beat ABS what does that tell you about mere mortals?
As to the OP, TiO2 is ALREADY in almost all paint. Most paints sold anymore are latex polymer (much better than oil based paints with volatile organics if you are worried about cancer) and calcium carbonate isn't going to cause anything cancer.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
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.
I wonder what this paint would do for those of us here on the Big Island of Hawaii. We have a form of smog that is generated by the noxious sulfur dioxide gas and other pollutants emitted from Kilauea Volcano (vog). The trade winds here carry most of the vog over to the other side of the island (Kona), but we do ocassionally get it here on this side of the island (Hilo). When the vog rolls in, the air smells like rotten eggs and you get the same type of visual effect that comes from staring at a a low res monitor screen for 8 hours :)
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
I'd think I'd prefer ABS to loss of directional control when your steer tyres lock ;-)
On a slightly different subject, when ABS was introduced by the major manufacturers in Australia, they altered their ABS firmware so that the initial skid-after-lockup was a fraction longer, allowing the wheel to 'bite' down through loose gravel onto the road base. Otherwise the system would try and brake your vehicle using the loose gravel, with obvious poor effect. I've encountered this "rolling" effect of braking on loose gravel with early ABS systems and it's very disconcerting. Later systems are much better at it, that's for sure.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
In short, Ti02 coatings absorb ultraviolet light, which pushes some of the molecules to specific higher energy bands. This energy is then released and combines with atmospheric water, forming a hydroxyl radical (*OH). This radical is quite a powerful oxidizing agent, and as such has great potential in breaking down all manner of atmospheric pollutants.
:). In this specific case, the Ti02 technology used is such that it won't clog up beyond having to spray it with water every few years or so.
In terms of safety, and as far as I've personally encountered, this kind of technology has already seen usage in:
1. Chinese restaurant fish tanks to keep the water clean. The water is just routed through a small box with a UV light and a plate coated with Ti02. Keeps the fish, customers and staff happy.
2. Bathroom tiles and street pavement.
3. "Self-cleaning" glass for use on buildings. On this it also has the benefit of being a more uniform layer, so that steam or mist will disperse more evenly over the glass. This will be good for bathroom mirrors and the windows on boats.
4. Air purifiers. Besides running air through a HEPA-like filter, you can also pass it through a Ti02 + UV light combo. And yes, it can help clear up the smell of bad farts. Personal experience
Titanium dioxide is a very stable mineral that is mined and refined, not "produced".
Wikipedia reference
Its the normal pigment in white paint.
The binder for most emulsion paint is polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is where I guess you got the connection with chlorine.
(vinyl paint) This is certainly not without risks.
Health risks with vinyl chloride monomer
and here
The only novel hazard here is the formulation of Titanium dioxide as nanoparticles, and the potential health risks associated with such stable nano particles.
Given that these are long term bound into the paint binder, this is possibly one of the lower risk applications of nano particles, though TiO2 is worryingly stable.
Shoka