Air Ink


Air Ink
Private
Industry Art supplies, stationery
Founder Anirudh Sharma
Headquarters Bengaluru, India
Key people
 Nitesh Kadyan
Products "Kaalink", Pens, oil-based paints, spray paints, markers
Website www.air-ink.com

Air Ink is an Indian startup brand which produces ink and ink-based art products by condensing soot-based gaseous effluents generated by motor vehicles due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Founded by Graviky Labs, a spin-off group of MIT Media Lab, Air Ink produces its materials through a step-by-step process which primarily involves capturing of emissions, separation of carbon from the soot, and then mixing of this carbon with different types of oils and solutions. It uses a patented device called "Kaalink" to carry out the filtration of soot, which contains carbon and other polluting agents like heavy metals and carcinogens.

Air Ink is marketed as a solution to air pollution and its disastrous effects on human life. Dubbed as "the first ink made out of recycled air pollution", its products were used in August 2016 in association with Tiger Beer to create street art and murals in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan district.[1] 30–50 minutes of car pollution is enough to create purified carbon which can fill an Air Ink pen.

History

Anirudh Sharma, founder of Graviky Labs, first conceived the idea of Air Ink in 2013 after he and his friends observed that his clothes were being stained by air pollution. Along with his team, Sharma spent close to three years researching how to purify and repurpose carbon soot from auto emissions, which is a major contributor to air pollution.[2]

In 2014 the Fluid Interface research group demonstrated the process of converting carbon residue into ink for use in an inkjet cartridge.[3]

In 2016, Air Ink products were given to graphic artists in Hong Kong, which is known for its high air pollution,[4] who were requested to paint murals. An artist, who participated in this campaign, said of the product, "genius, and deserves a chance".[5][6]

Air Ink products are scheduled to be commercially available by the end of year 2016.

Technology

Air Ink uses a technology where it manages to capture soot, the 2.5-micrometer black particles composed mainly of carbon, found in carbon emissions from petrol or diesel exhausts are captured from the tailpipes of cars through a device called "Kaalink", the captured particles are collected and after removing heavy metals, the carbon residue are finally transforming into paint or ink.[7] A single Air Ink pen contains 30–50 minutes of air pollution.[8] The emissions from 2,500 hours of driving one standard diesel vehicle will produce around 150 litres of ink.[9]

Graviky Labs, the company behind Air Ink, has maintained that the ink products can help in reducing vehicular pollution in cities. One of the companies lead engineers said, "Unless it is deployed on a large scale and there is an entire ecosystem around it, it's effect will be minimal."[10]

"Kaalink"

Kaalink is a cylindrical device that is retrofitted into a vehicle's exhaust system to collect the emissions. It can collect up to 93% of the total exhaust, which is then processed to remove heavy metals and carcinogens. The end-product from this device is a purified carbon-based pigment. Kaalink has been tested on cars, trucks, motorcycles and fishing boats in Bangalore and Hong Kong.[11]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.