By Beverley Mitchell, Source: Inhabitat

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16-year-old Samuel Burrow has found a way to scrub the world clean of toxic pollution using materials found in sunscreen and pencils! The teenager developed a white, smog-busting mixture of titanium dioxide and graphene oxide that can be applied to internal and external surfaces like paint. His solution is strong, efficient, and cheap – and it uses simple ingredients commonly found in everyday products.

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Titanium dioxide has strong oxidizing properties when it is exposed to the UV radiation in sunlight. In this process, electrons are released from titanium dioxide to create free radicals, which break down any pollutants they come in contact with – including nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Although titanium dioxide building treatments (such as those in Mexico City pictured above) exist to combat air-borne pollutants, they are currently expensive and therefore difficult to scale up.

Read the rest at: Inhabitat