We often think of air pollution as an outdoor problem, but air inside our homes can actually be even more contaminated with bacteria, volatile organic compounds and other pollutants. NASA research first designed to help plants thrive in space turned out to work extremely well at ridding air of all kinds of toxins, and has been adapted into plug-in filters that keep the air you breathe cleaner and healthier.
Scientists at a NASA Research Partnership Center were looking for a way to scrub the air of ethylene, which hastens the decay of fruits and flowers and tends to gather around plants in the absence of convection on the space station. They hit on photocatalytic oxidation, whereby titanium dioxide exposed to ultraviolet light reacts with ethylene — or, it turned out, any airborne organic compounds — to oxidize them into harmless byproducts.
Learn more about how NASA helped develop technology that impacts air purifiers within your home's bedroom environment!