New Air Filter can Clear Cigarette Smoke in an Hour Inside a Smoking Room

Korean researchers have developed a new air cleaning equipment that can purify the air completely in an hour inside a smoking room where 10 people are simultaneously smoking.

"We have developed a nano-catalyst filter which can be used in a smoking room to reduce and purify major harmful substances of cigarette smoke," said lead researcher Jongsoo Jurng from the Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).

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"Our catalyst removes 100 percent of the particle substances of cigarette smoke, such as nicotine and tar, converting those into water vapor and carbon dioxide," he said in a statement.

According to the team, the air cleaning equipment based on the newly-developed catalyst can purify over 80 percent of the cigarette smoke within 30 minutes and 100 percent of it within one hour in a 30-square-metre smoking room.

Activated charcoal-based filters have been mostly used in a smoking room to remove gaseous materials in cigarette smoke.

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However, those filters are not effective in removing gaseous materials such as acetaldehyde, their absorption performance decreases fast in a closed facility such as a smoking room, and they need to be replaced at least every other week.

The new nano-catalyst filter uses a technology that decomposes elements of cigarette smoke using oxygen radical, which is generated by decomposing ozone in the air.

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"From the convergence perspective, the new nanometer catalyst filter can be integrated with other air cleaning products such as air purifiers and air conditioners," said co-lead researcher Gwi-Nam.

The researchers expect that air filters based on their technology can be produced commercially in a year.

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Source-IANS