A Chinese company claims to have created a new building material that breaks down pollutants and can be used to build air-purifying walls.
Kaier New Materials has developed an enamel that can carry out photosynthesis, the same chemical reaction through which plants release oxygen, according to China Radio International.
The company, which specialises in manufacture of enamels, is waiting to conduct more tests and has no plans of launching it in the market yet, CRI says.
Air pollutants in Chinese cities contain solid particles with organic matter including sulfides and nitrates.
"We have added a highly oxidising and hydrophilic nanometer material into the enamel. The new material will have a photosynthesis-like reaction with organic air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfides," Shu Wenxiao, a researcher with the company, told CRI.
When the enamel comes into contact with pollutants, both react chemically to produce water which can form a thin film on the external surface of buildings covered with that material, also giving the walls a self-cleaning capacity.
"The material has been used on the exterior walls of our building for 10 months as a trial and it has decomposed pollutants," Shu added.
While Chinese authorities have already certified the self-cleaning capacity of the material after requisite tests, they are yet to certify its air-purification capabilities.
"We have no plans to bring the product to market just yet. Domestic testing institutions lack standards for such material, and we are looking for foreign organisations," Shu explained.
The company claims every 200 square metres of the new enamel will have an air-purifying effect equal to that of 14 mature poplar trees.
