The air cleaning
equipment developed by KIST-KT&G reduces not only particle substances such
as nicotine and tar, but also gaseous materials such as acetaldehyde in
cigarette smoke.
(July 8, 2015) Korea
Institute of Science and Technology(KIST) research team has developed a
nano-catalyst for air cleaning in a smoking room that removes 100% of
acetaldehyde, the first class carcinogen, which accounts for the largest
portion of the gaseous substances present in cigarette smoke. Furthermore, the
KIST-developed catalyst removes 100% of the particle substances of cigarette
smoke, such as nicotine and tar, converting those into water vapor and carbon
dioxide. According to the research team, the air cleaning equipment based on
the newly-developed catalyst can purify over 80% of the cigarette smoke within
30 minutes and 100% of it within 1 hour in a
30 square meter smoking room, where 10 people are simultaneously
smoking.
The research team led by Dr. Jongsoo Jurng and Dr. Gwi-Nam
at KIST stated that, “In cooperation with KT&G, KIST has developed a
nano-catalyst filter coated with a manganese oxide-based nano-catalyst, which
can be used in a smoking room to reduce and purify major harmful substances of
cigarette smoke.
Activated charcoal-based filters have been mostly used in a
smoking room to remove gaseous materials in cigarette smoke. However, those
filters are not effective in removing gaseous materials such as acetaldehyde,
their absorbtion performance decreases fast in a closed facility such as a
smoking room, and they need to be replaced at least every other week, which is
rather inconvenient.