LONDON: The writing is on the wall for pollution. UK researchers have developed the world's first air-cleansing poem printed on a material that can eradicate the air pollution caused by 20 cars, every day. The material, devised by the University of Sheffield, removes harmful nitrogen oxide from the atmosphere.
Noted poet Simon Armitage, professor of poetry at the University, and pro-vicechancellor for science Tony Ryan have collaborated to create a poem called 'In Praise of Air' - printed on material containing a formula which is capable of purifying its surroundings. The cheap technology could also be applied to billboards and advertisements alongside congested roads to cut pollution, researchers said.
The 10m x 20m piece of material which the poem is printed on is coated with microscopic pollution-eating particles of titanium dioxide which make use of sunlight and oxygen to react with nitrogen oxide pollutants and purify the air.
"This is a fun collaboration between science and the arts to highlight a very serious issue of poor air quality in our towns and cities," Ryan, who came up with the idea of using treated materials to cleanse the air, said.
The poem will on display at the University's Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, for one year.
