New tech filters indoor volatile organic compound pollution

Researchers have found that high indoor levels of volatile organic compounds can have a detrimental effect on people. According to Chemical & Engineering News, a new metal mesh-based air purification system developed by Jeffrey G. Weissman and his coworkers at Precision Combustion may provide a solution.

Less expensive than traditionally used platinum and palladium, these systems can perform the same function with a microlith, or stacks of mesh much like a window screen.

The metal mesh provides more surface area and better heat and mass transport properties than traditional catalytic supports, such as the ceramic ones in cars. Faster, lighter and smaller, the metal mesh-based microliths seem to be a technology poised to take over the future of air filtering.

Top image: A new air purification device for the International Space Station. (Credit: Precision Combustion)