Air pollution is a big problem in Asia. Over the years, Asian countries have experienced thick smog blanketing its cities. We even wrote about bottled air getting sold out in China before. That’s how bad the air pollution can get – it renders the skies zero-visibility and even becomes a respiratory health hazard for the people. There are many factors to outdoor air pollution, especially in urbanized and developing industries where car exhausts, household and industrial fumes and even agricultural land burning, all contribute to the problem. Given this widespread source of air pollution, what can be done to reduce it?

Well, turning the dreaded black soot from polluted air into something useful is one. But what can black soot be useful for, right? Apparently, black soot is good for writing, which is why Singapore-based Graviky Labs, headed by Anirudh Sharma, turned black carbon waste and soot into black ink. The principle is quite simple – they developed a filtration system that collects and filters out the harmful carbon particles and soot from car exhausts. These extracted air pollutants are then turned into black ink that can be used for pens or painting. The ink is aptly named “Air Ink”, meaning ink made from air (pollution).

Watch the video below about “Air Ink”, the ink made from pollution:

Sharma says that right now, the technology is applied to car exhausts but a macro-scale version of the device can be created for manufacturing plants, chimneys, and more. It can be seen that after the filtration from the device, white and clear air is emitted. This technology is truly groundbreaking and useful in our fight against global warming and climate change.

Writing, drawing or painting with the Air Ink seems really fun right? We hope the technology and the DIY Air Ink becomes available soon.