May 15, 2011

Alcoa Unveils Smog Eating Aluminum Panel

JetsonGreen - We’ve seen roof tiles that eat smog, but Alcoa Architectural Products is introducing an architectural panel that the company claims can clean itself and the air around it.  Reynobond with EcoClean is what it’s called, and it’s a combination of Reynobond, which is a pre-painted, aluminum, coil-coated panel, and EcoClean, a proprietary coating with titanium oxide.

It removes pollutants and cleans itself through the reaction of sunlight, water vapor, and oxygen.  Specifically, titanium oxide mixes with sunlight to breakdown organic matter on and near the panels.  When it rains, instead of beading up and streaking, the EcoClean surface is hydrophilic and washes away broken down pollutants.

Georgia-based Air Quality Sciences, Inc. tested the EcoClean panels and confirmed that smog, or NOx, is neutralized at the molecular level.  Alcoa says the panels also break down sulphur oxides (SOx), diesel exhaust, and other organic matter.

10,000 square feet of this product on a building could “offset the smog created by the pollution output of four cars every day, which is the approximate air cleansing power of 80 trees every day,” according to Alcoa. 

In terms of costs, a representative for Alcoa told Jetson Green that the installed cost is about 4-5% more than Reynobond without EcoClean. Click and view this graphic below for more detail on the smog-eating properties.

More info on Alcoa Reynobond with EcoClean.