Chennai: The Delhi Government have funded a project on a potentially new way to control pollutants in public places. The study is led by IIT Madras Professor Somnath C Roy, who will begin with laboratory testing before moving to field trials in Delhi.

The areas for those trials are yet to be decided, where the tests will be conducted to determine whether "smog-eating photocatalytic coatings on public spaces could reduce pollutants such as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), both key drivers of urban air pollution.

Professor Somnath C Roy explained how the help of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) based material will help in tackling the problem of smog. The professor said that the TiO2 nanomaterial-based panels will be installed on the rooftops or under street lights and will convert the Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and VOCs into harmless gases like Nitrogen, Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide.

"In smog, nitrogen oxides, NOx, which are one of the main components and plus the secondary components, are the volatile organic compounds (VOCs). So we are going to use TiO2-based materials to degrade this NOx and VOCs photocatalytically. So there are two components in the project, one component is that we are going to make TiO2 nanomaterial-based panels, I mean you can think of them as solar panels which be installed on the rooftop and even under street lamps. When these panels come in contact, when NOx or VOCs come in contact with these panels, they will break up into you know harmless gases such as Nitrogen and Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide. This is one part of the project," he said.

Explaning the second part of the project, he said that a study will be conducted under laboratory conditions to understand the proportions of Titanium Dioxide which will break down the NOx and VOCs into harmless gases.

"Another part of the project where the Delhi government actually asked us to study is that, let's say, we want to lay roads and we use tar. So to mix this titanium dioxide at certain proportions with the tar and to check that under artificial light, sunlight and even under the street lamp during the evening, when the NOx come in contact with the road, this tar," he said.

He said that after testing whether "smog-eating" photocatalytic coatings on public spaces are effective, recommendations will be made for the Delhi government to decide in which areas exactly the pilot will be conducted. He said, "We are first going to study this under a laboratory environment in the sense that we are going to check what concentration or composition of TiO2 is going to break this NOx and VOCs optimally. And then we are going to recommend to the Delhi government, you know, for this installation and this implementation at a particular target place."