Results: Ink made of air pollution

Did you ever hear about this ink before this survey?

Air-Ink was invented by engineer Anirudh Sharma while a student at MIT Media Lab when he was inspired on a walk around Mumbai. Realizing that the soot and vehicle exhaust all around him could be turned into something useful, he founded startup Graviky Labs to create the world's first fine art inks and paints made of air pollution. Do you consider this product will end up being popular and affordable?

While the concept seems simple, the process of harvesting and creating ink out of exhaust is not. Graviky Labs had to create a way to collect soot with a universal device that could be retrofitted to the exhaust pipes of diesel engines. Their creation is now known as the Kaalink, a cylinder that can capture 95% of particulate material. The Kaalink has already been tested to capture 1.6 billion micrograms of particulate matter. That means 1.6 trillion liters of air has been successfully cleaned without affecting engine performance. Does this seem to be an efficient way to get rid of pollution?

After the Kaalink performs initial filtration and collection, the captured pollution is taken to the lab for purification. Toxic materials like heavy metals, oils, and VOCs are removed through gravity separation and other proprietary processes and disposed of safely. Then the soot goes through a grinding process that creates an artist-quality pigment. It takes only 45 minutes of driving around to create 1 fluid ounce of ink, enough to fill one Air-Ink pen. There are several other benefits besides just removing pollution from the air. Producing regular black ink requires burning fossil fuels and creates more pollution, while Air-Ink is doing the opposite. Many carbon-capture solutions include burying liquefied CO2 in the ground, but these run the risk of allowing it back into the air. By turning pollution into pigment, the CO2 is packaged safely away. Can you mention any other smart way to get rid of pollution?