UNAM students design purifying concrete

A team of students of the Faculty of Higher Studies Aragón has developed concrete slabs capable of purifying air and rainwater .

Student of the Civil Engineering program and founder of Ingenia Concretos, Gregorio Rodríguez , explained that the concrete slabs are capable of purifying up to 30% of harmful particles floating in the atmosphere and that the concrete slabs themselves could be used in buildings and facades.

He detailed the material transforms nitrous oxide into nitrate through a photocatalytic reaction.

For his part, Héctor Martínez, also a civil engineer, explains that permeability is another property of concrete, thus this allows rainwater to return to aquifers and other water bodies and continue its natural cycle.

Martínez adds the team is currently working on implementing the technology on construction projects as it is a highly resistant material and can be used in parking lots, gardens, or sidewalks, according to a statement posted on UNAM Global, available in Spanish .

After its useful life, this eco-friendly concrete can be reused to create a new batch of the same material.

Their company still lacks the capacity to mass produce the material, thus each square meter costs MXN$ 1,200 yet they are confident people will seek their product because of its aesthetic and ecological advantages.

Smog into gemstones?

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