Chinese scientists have created a new type of smart window screen to capture smog, lowering the density of harmful fine particulate matter PM 2.5 indoors to a safe level within a minute.

The material was developed by a research team led by Yu Shuhong, a professor with the University of Science and Technology of China, and the study was recently published in the journal iScience.

The nanowire-nylon material has a PM 2.5 removal efficiency as high as 99.65 percent and can reduce its density from 248 to 32.9 micrograms per cubic meters, a safe level, in just 50 seconds, according to the research.

Meanwhile, the Ag-nylon mesh, coated with thermochromic dye, can adjust the indoor light intensity.

Compared with former smog-filtering window materials, this window screen is cheaper, reusable and easier to be manufactured in large quantities.

It requires only 100 yuan (around 15 U.S. dollars) and 20 minutes to fabricate a 7.5-square-meter Ag-nylon mesh. Users can clean the window screen by soaking it in ethanol for 20 minutes.

Xinhua, 2018-02-14

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