This sustainable device purifies the air using algae

London-based ecoLogicStudio has introduced the AIReactor, a new air purifier that employs algae to purify air instead of costly and less sustainable plastic and mesh filters. The AIReactor's unique design makes it look like a fancy piece of lab equipment. A one-meter-tall structure made of CNC-cut sustainable and fully recyclable birch plywood holds a glass container, or "photobioreactor."" The container is filled with up to 10 liters of water and a special micro-algae solution, which helps clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants while adding oxygen. The air moves through the algae, mimicking ocean waves to help the algae grow and helping them produce about 7 grams of material daily. This biowaste produced by the purification process is then harvested and used to create a biopolymer in a fully circular sustainable fashion. AIReactor, in fact, is part of a three-piece PhotoSyntetica collection that includes a 3D-printed stool and a ring made by ecoLogicStudio using this polymer.

"This collection is born from the dream of growing the city of the future from the waste and pollution of our current fossil civilization", says Dr. Marco Poletto, co-founder of ecoLogicStudio. "More than products, these first three objects are tools to start a collective process of urban re-metabolization." AIReactor, along with the rest of the collection, is on display at the Milan Design Week. The 3D-printed stool features a ribbed body and organic design, and it was created in collaboration with the Synthetic Landscape Lab at Innsbruck University. According to the studio, it's made with about 30% of the biopolymer derived from the AIReactor algae byproducts.