Millions, if not billions, of dollars are spent by organizations every month in Research and Development (R&D) for developing new and better technologies that will make life easier for humanity. However, day by day, intensive research and development is also conducted by some corporate businesses as well as nonprofit organizations for inventing technologies that will save the environment and make the world a better place.

Not just mammoth organizations, even young students all over the world are asking thought provoking questions and challenging the status quo to invent world changing technologies.

?Could soot be used as ink for printers?? - This is what Anirudh Sharma kept asking himself before he came up within an idea two years ago. He developed a product that has the potential to not only clean the air but also offer an alternative to standard printer ink. Since hundreds of millions printer inks are used around the world every year, this seemed like a great market opportunity. ?Air pollution is a major problem that people are facing,? says Sharma, a native of India. ?Just Google Delhi/Beijing air pollution and you?ll see how many people are dying due to air pollution. His idea was to convert the problem into an opportunity.?  

The picture in this article has been printed with the Kaalink prototype model.

His invention, the Kaalink printer, is undergoing a pilot test in New Delhi and Bangalore, which is made by combining rubbing alcohol, oil substrate, and soot in order to develop industrial grade printing ink. ?We capture the pollutants via capacitive plating method and use a nano-fabricated grid to separate the carbon black,? says Sharma. ?Capturing soot to make something useful will not only be a new business model, but also a way to prevent our cities from choking.?