On a break from his studies in the MIT Media Lab, Anirudh Sharma traveled home to Mumbai, India. While there, he noticed that throughout the day his T-shirts were gradually gathering something that looked like dirt. "I realized this was air pollution, or sooty (像煤一样) particulate matter (PM), made of black particles released from exhaust (尾气) of vehicles," Sharma says. "This is a major health issue." Soot consists of tiny black particles, about 2.5 micrometers or smaller, made of carbon produced by incomplete burning of fossil fuels.
Back at MIT, Sharma set out to help solve this air-pollution issue. After years of research, Sharma's startup Graviky Labs has developed technology that attaches to exhaust systems of diesel generators (柴油发电机) to collect particulate matter. Scientists at Graviky then turn it into ink, called Air-Ink, for artists around the world. So far, the startup has collected I.6 billion micrograms of particulate matter. More than 200 gallons of Air-Ink have been harvested for a growing community of more than 1,000 artists, from Bangalore to Boston, Shanghai, and London.
Posted all over Graviky Lab's Facebook page today are photos of art made from the Air-Ink and paint, including street wall paintings, body art and clothing prints. At first, there was still no specific application for the ink. Then the startup decided to find new ways to further spread its mission. It chose to do so through art. "Art helps us raise awareness about where the ink and paint comes from. Air pollution knows no borders. Our ink sends a message that pollution is one of the resources in our world that's the hardest to collect and use. But it can be done," Sharma says.