Innovation and creativity prove even pollution can have a second life. Graviky Labs, an MIT Media Lab team led by Anirudh Sharma, set out to transform environmental waste into something useful. This article explores how they created Air Ink, the world’s first ink made from air pollution.
Meet Air Ink
“When you connect ideas with passion and creativity, amazing things are possible.” Watch how Air Ink came to be in the video below.
The process
Step 01
While cheaper carbon black inks are manufactured through the deliberate burning of fossil fuels, the Air Ink team uses a proprietary device — the KAALINK — to capture the soot emitted from vehicles. KAALINK is retrofitted to the exhaust pipe of cars, trucks, and ships to capture the outgoing pollutants.
Step 02
The soot collected undergoes various proprietary processes to remove heavy metals and carcinogens. The end product is a purified carbon rich pigment.
Step 03
The carbon is then used to make different types of inks and paints.
End result
Through this process, Graviky Labs has created several grades of Air Ink with different applications: a 2mm round tip marker, 15mm, 30mm and 50mm chisel tip markers, and screen printing ink.
Get involved
By transforming pollution into art, Graviky Labs’ Air Ink demonstrates the power of creative problem-solving. This groundbreaking process shows how curiosity and innovation can turn challenges into opportunities for meaningful change. Air Ink is in its fundraising phase. Explore and support the Graviky Labs Kickstarter campaign here.
