OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2011. A RUSNANO-cofinanced project to expand production of air purification systems that surpass current domestic and foreign competitors has gotten underway. The project has a total budget of 580 million rubles. RUSNANO will co-invest 261 million rubles in its realization.

The project’s air purifying systems use photocatalytic filters that reduce airborne organic contaminants to water and carbon dioxide. By passing air through porous material with a titanium dioxide nanocrystal photocatalyzer, these units destroy toxic organic substances and pathogenic microorganisms. Photocatalytic air purification can be employed to prevent the spread of viral infections in medical facilities and in gathering places.

Project executives intend to manufacture several types of air cleaning systems for installation in homes, offices, and industrial buildings. They will also produce antibacterial, antismoke, and specialized medical units. The photocatalytic elements in all these systems possess practically unlimited resources. They work in a broad range of temperatures and use little energy. The units are competitively priced.

“Air purification using nanocrystal photocatalytic materials is one of the most effective means of cleaning air that we have today. These systems are capable of removing such harmful contaminants as nitrogen oxide, formaldehyde, and pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses), something other methods of air cleaning cannot accomplish. Their virtually unlimited resources contrast sharply with other air cleaning systems that, in the absence of watchful filter replacement, themselves become sources of toxic air pollutants. The AIRLIFE systems do not have these problems because dangerous substances are fully oxidized on the surface of the nanostructured photocatalyzer,” explained RUSNANO managing Director Alexander Kondrashov.