Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Science Professor Tony Ryan from the University of Sheffield in the U.K. have created the world's first poem that absorbs pollution from the air.
The poem, called "In Praise of Air", is a 65-foot tall poster covered with nanoparticles of titanium oxide, which mix sunlight and oxygen to react with nitrogen oxide pollutants and clean the air, according to CNET.
"This poem alone will eradicate the nitrogen oxide pollution created by about 20 cars every day," said Ryan, developer of the nanotech.
"In Praise of Air" will be on display for a year on the side of the University's Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Nanowerk reported.
"If every banner, flag or advertising poster in the country did this, we'd have much better air quality," Ryan said. "It would add less than 100 pounds to the cost of a poster and would turn advertisements into catalysts in more ways than one. The countless thousands of poster sites that are selling us cars beside our roads could be cleaning up emissions at the same time."
Ryan has also been looking to use the technology for laundry detergent, as part of his Catalytic Clothing Project, CNET reported.
The unveiling of the poem marked the beginning of this year's Sheffield Lyric Festival. The festival takes places at the University's Firth Hall between May 14 and 17, Nanowerk reported.
"This highlights the innovation and creativity at the heart of the University and its research excellence," said Dr. Joanna Gavins, from the University's School of English. Gavins is also the project manager for the catalytic poem project and leads the Lyric Festival.
Armitage said he was looking to create a poem that would catch the attention of people passing by while also getting people interested enough to ask questions about it.
"I've enjoyed working with the scientists and the science, trying to weave and message into the words, wanting to collaborate both conceptually and with the physical manifestation of the work," he said. "Poetry often comes out with the intimate and the personal, so it's strange to think of a piece in such an exposed place, written so large and so bold. I hope the spelling is right!"
