Dutch town trying to cut pollution using air-purifying concrete

The Dutch town of Hengelo has an interesting solution for cleaning up the air, as it is currently testing a new type of air-purifying concrete. This special concrete was developed by University of Twente and promises to soak up nitrogen oxide particles emitted by car exhausts. Learn more after the jump!

The Dutch town of Hengelo has an interesting solution for cleaning up the air, as it is currently testing a new type of air-purifying concrete. This special concrete was developed by University of Twente and promises to soak up nitrogen oxide particles emitted by car exhausts.

How does it do this? Well, the concrete paving stones contain a titanium dioxide-based additive. The additive, under the influence of sunlight, binds with the nitrogen oxide from car exhausts, turning them into nitrates. The university added, “With one rain shower everything is washed clean,” leading us to believe that the concrete can be reused indefinitely so long as it gets cleaned by water every so often.

The concrete is currently in testing, with one half of a road that’s under reconstruction being paved with the new bricks, while the other half is paved with ordinary bricks. Early next year, they’ll take air measurements of the area where the air-purifying concrete was laid to see if the bricks aided in improving air quality.

Via Physorg