New paints break down nitrogen oxides

Surfaces with photo-catalytic characteristics clean the air off nitrogen oxides and other health-endangering substances.

Using a new test procedure, Fraunhofer researchers can find out how the coatings behave during a long-term test. They will introduce the test at the booth of the Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance from 14 – 19 January, 2013, in Munich, Germany.

The '70s were characterised by a smog alert in Germany's Ruhr area, acid rain and dying spruce trees in the Bavarian Forest. In those days, the solution was a filter systems for the smokestacks in the Ruhr area.

Today, people in the urban areas are suffering from high levels of pollution that is being caused by, among other things, automotive traffic. Particularly undesirable are the nitrogen oxides.

In the meantime, the European Union tightened the limit values even further; in many communities they are being exceeded.

Dr Michael Hüben of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME in Schmallenberg, Germany, says that ''on stretches with heavy traffic there is a particular need for action.'' During the next two years, the Fraunhofer researchers  will undertake a project to examine the effectiveness of photo-catalytic removal of nitrogen oxide on coated building test panels, and how photo-catalytic surfaces contribute to the removal of NOx and how the coatings prove themselves during long-term operation.