Tiles as an air filter

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed roof shingles that they claim can chemically decompose the same amount of harmful nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere over the course of a year as the average car drives over 17 at a time. kilometers. According to other estimates, one million roofs covered with such tiles remove 21 million tons of these oxides from the air per day.

The key to miraculous roofing is the admixture of titanium dioxide. The students who came up with this invention simply covered ordinary, store-bought tiles with it. More precisely, they covered them with different layers of this substance, testing them in an "atmospheric chamber" made of wood, Teflon and PVC pipes. They pumped harmful nitrogen compounds inside and irradiated the tiles with ultraviolet radiation, which activated the titanium dioxide.

In various samples, the reactive coating was removed from 87 to 97 percent. harmful substances. Interestingly, the thickness of the roof with a titanium layer did not make much difference to operational efficiency. However, this fact may be important from an economic point of view, since relatively thin layers of titanium dioxide can be effective. The inventors are currently considering the possibility of "staining" with this substance all surfaces of buildings, including walls and other architectural elements.