We all are a victim of pollution. While yes this is the price we have paid for moving forward and progressing, many are calling science a killer of the environment. But it is not science itself but rather how we have used it that the environment had to suffer. Nowadays, the awareness campaigns have brought about a change. Even scientists are working to come up with ideas to protect and environment and reduce pollution in every way possible. Strict policies are being introduced to keep a check and balance so that environment no longer has to suffer.
Such efforts are the reason why you’re reading this post. In Netherlands a particular pavement coating was tested which can reduce air pollution by half as claimed by a paper in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. The test was carried out for about a year on a block at Hengelo, Netherlands.
It was found that concrete blocks which have been coated with titanium oxide removed about 19 percent of pollution from NO and NO2 during a day and up to 45 percent during weather conditions which were ideal (low humidity and high radiation). These paving stones are known as photocatalytic and are obviously more expensive than the regular concrete but can help greatly in reducing the smog concentration from urban areas.
For those of you who think that such materials are only fancy materials and are not used in everyday application, you’d be surprised to know that photocatalytic cement is being made use of on a busy stretch of a sidewalk in Chicago!