SIRIUS
Mosskin
ROLE: DESIGNER, RESEARCHER
09/22 - present
Personal project with Wendy Meng
Instructor: Xuan Liu
ABOUT THE PROJECT
A new material that can purify the air and lower the temperature simultaneously to cool down the earth by covering these materials on street furniture.
01 CHALLENGE
Heat waves often lead to poor air quality
High atmospheric pressures capture polluted air above cities
Sun and heat transform primary pollutants into ozone and ultrafine particles
Heat increases power usage (air conditioning in buildings and cars), which in turn increases primary pollutants emissions
When Heat Waves Meet Air Pollution
The risk of death increased by about 6% on days with extreme high temperatures and by about 5% on days with high concentrations of fine particulate matter.
But risk approximately quadrupled on days when there was both extreme heat and high air pollution.
02 SITE
Lambeth
03 TARGET CUSTOMERS
Local Authority / Government
Industry is mostly supplied to or influenced by local authorities in UK.
"The provision, enhancement and management of green infrastructure is the central focus of London Plan policy."
London Plan Guidance
Air Quality Positive Draft
Air Quality Positive should be applied to large-scale development proposals subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Using Green Infrastructure To Protect People From Air Pollution Guidance
Well considered use of green infrastructure may also form part of Air Quality Positive proposals and should be considered in line with this guidance.
Commercial
Restaurants and hotels accelerate product demand after pandemic.
In 2020, many cities closed indoor dining to curb rising COVID-19 cases. Opening outdoor dinning became the best can do.
"Now, alfresco dining has became permanent feature of some central London streets."
Westminster City
More than 80% of residents and businesses have voted in favor of making outdoor dining a permanent fixture.
Residential
Shift in urban spaces design: Now focusing on public spaces and communities.
Growing market for customized design, bike storage and smart furniture.
04 TECHNOLOGIES
Current Technologies
Plant-Based Technologies
Algae
When exposed to UV radiation from the sun, algae convert dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) into dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a sulfur compound that contributes to cloud formation when it enters the air, preventing solar radiation from reaching the earth's surface and reflecting it back into space, thereby lowering temperatures.
Moss
Mosses can grow and thrive in all kinds of relatively extreme weather conditions, they do not require a lot of water, and they can go through multiple hydration and rehydration cycles in their lifetime. Some mosses use ammonia as a nutrient. They can absorb and store large amounts of water and can have a considerable cooling effect on the temperature through evaporation.
House Plants
Effective only against indoor pollutants
Leaf Type
Scale
Needle
Broad
The PM capturing capacity of different plant species has been found quite different. Physical structural properties of plant leaf surface have been reported to provide favorable conditions for PM to be adhered to.
Species with wrinkled leaf surface normally shows a higher PM capturing capacity than those with a smooth leaf surface. Deep grooves and ridges on the leaf surfaces provide more room for PM to be intercepted and to embed, and less likely to be released by following wind.
Plant species with a rough and hairy surface prevent PM on the leaf surface from being blown away by the wind. These physical traits of leaf surface make a certain species effective PM accumulators.
Leaf surface hydrophilicity has also been reported to affect the capturing capacity of the roadside plants; high hydrophilic leaves usually possess a high PM capturing capacity.
Size-resolved particle deposition velocities for the different plant species.
05 BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming
Divider Screens
Flexible Web
Fabric
Rod / Strut
Use Cases
Implementation / Attachment Methods
Wall
Bike Storage
Info Board
Chairs
Trash Bin
Trash Bin
Knots & Methods
Materials
Mosses can absorb water like a sponge.
Sphagnums can absorb up from 20-30 times their weight.
The materials used should be able to hold the weight, be resistant to outdoor environment,
and moss-friendly.
With Plants & Fake Plants
06 MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
Research for Moss Growth
Moss Propagation
Organic & Inorganic fertilizer for moss propagation by fragments
Lactic
acid bacteria (LAB) as PGPMs(Plant growth promoting microorganism).
Fertilizer
provide
N-P-K
for
Up - Down - All
growth
Moss Maintenance
Nitrogen-fixing by cyanobacteria co-living with mosses
Example: N-fixing symbiosis between the ubiquitous feather moss and cyanobacterium (Nostoc sp.) that alone fixes between 1.5 and 2.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1 in mid- to late- successional forests of northern Scandinavia and Finland.
Research for Moss Anchoring
Rhizoids
Hairlike structures for anchoring the moss to rock, bark or soil.
Adhesive sulfated non-cellulose polysaccharides by rhizoid tips
Thigmotropic responses, coiling around objects
Forming discs or branching at their tips
Experiment
Step 1
The dried samples were cleaned from dirt and rehydrated by immersion in water, then accurately washed with running water to remove residual dirt.
Step 2
Moss samples are carefully cut into small pieces, for propagation purpose.
Step 3
A 1% agar solution was added to the rehydrated moss, with a moss to agar weight/volume ratio 1/2. The moss/agar mix was then blended in a laboratory blender.
Step 4
The moss paste was spread on the wool yarn, previously soaked in water and drained.
Evaluation
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