ROME – Pedaling and cleaning the air at the same time? It’s possible. Or at least that’s what the German start-up is trying to do as it faces the challenge of air pollution with Airo, an air purifier that can be installed on a bicycle to filter the air while driving. Airo uses “theBreath” an innovative patented carbon mesh, developed by the Italian Anemotech to absorb, trap and break down pollutants, transforming bicycles into mobile purifiers.
“The tube mounted on the bicycle has a length of about 20 cm by a diameter of 2.4 cm – they explain to Anemotech – The air, at a speed of about 3 Km / h, is filtered by the device through a slot of about 40 square centimeters. In this way we are able to treat 12 cubic meters of air every hour of use for a single bicycle “.
In short, while pedaling, Airo is able to continuously absorb air pollution, reducing most of the pollutants that are dangerous for human health. The volatile organic compounds (Vocs) that the device is able to capture are the following: Toluene (C7H8, up to 97.2%), Formaldehyde (CH2O, up to 92.2%), Heptane (C7H16, up to 96.8%), Benzene (C6H6, up to 62%), Nitric Dioxide (NO2, up to 86.8%), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2, up to 91.5%). On the sustainability front, Planet Airo is striving to make the device as environmentally friendly as possible by adopting the main body in stainless steel (coming soon from recycle), infinitely reusable, removable and re-insertable caps, no plastic in the packaging. The filter, whose effectiveness lasts twelve months, is the only component that needs to be replaced but at Planet Airo, where they don’t want to throw anything in the trash, various solutions are already being studied for the reuse of used filters.
The system created by the German factory, which costs 59 euros (including shipping costs), was presented at the “Puzzle X” event dedicated to the importance of advanced technological innovations in materials at the Barcelona Fair.
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