How and why air ionisers work
You’re not only what you eat but what you breathe, too! Have you ever thought about it? We’re sure that you choose with great care the food for you and your family: you look for safe food, organic when you can, that comes from farms and productions with a transparent supply chain and, if possible zero km food. You read the label, compare different ingredients and then you buy whatever appeals to you the most. It’s true, going shopping this way is much more tiring! Though, we’re sure that you would never do it any other way. And you can see the results in your everyday life. Maybe there’s one ingredient of your daily diet to which you don’t pay as much attention even though it’s what you consume the most, even when you sleep: the air you breathe.
What is in the air in our homes?
There are no labels for the air that is present in your home, workplace or children’s school: which means that sadly, you can’t choose the ingredients of the air you breathe. Just like a mouth-watering slice of cake that you are about to bite down on before knowing about all of the refined sugars, fats and additives, so the air you breathe may be full of substances that are not healthy for you. Including the air in your house.
Pollutants that come from the outside, volatile substances emitted by furnishings, cleaning products and building materials (paint, glue, cement), mycotoxins emitted by moulds, not to mention viruses and bacteria carried by people or simply present in the air. These are all “ingredients” of your home air and there are a lot of them but often you are not aware of this.
If you want to start improving the air in your house now, at the end of this article you can find some hints and tips to do so. We’ll clarify on how to make your house more environmentally friendly thanks to plants, however to be sure that the air you take in is clean, you need something more! Today we want to explain why and how the technology we use on our devices to sanitise and purify the air in indoor spaces is renowned as the most effective and safe.
Ionisation: a natural phenomenon
JONIX devices fall into the category of so-called “air ionisers”, i.e. systems that release negatively and/or positively charged particles into the air that needs to be treated. Ionisation was not invented by man, but by nature as it is one of the systems it uses to clean its air. Have you ever noticed how the air is lighter and more “sparkling” after a thunderstorm? This happens because the electric discharge from lightning frees positively charged particles, which colliding produce oxidising species that break downpolluting substances present in the air. Jonix devices are able to artificially recreate the ionising phenomenon to purify, disinfect and sanitise environments and objects.
How do Jonix devices work?
All Jonix devices, from domestic use to those designed for industrial, medical, catering/hospitality and business fields, use the same technology: Ionisation of particles present in the air thanks to the cold plasma system. This type of technology during its sanitisation stage, uses neither chemical substances which are potentially dangerous and can pollute, nor elevated temperatures, because it triggers the ionisation phenomenon with processes that generate plasma (a gaseous mixture) at room temperature. The particles in plasma, among which the most important are the reactive oxygen species, transport electrical charges that concentrate on the surface of membranes of volatile organic compounds, bacteria, microorganisms and bad odours, disrupting them and thus causing their destruction by oxidation.
Jonix technology tested on viruses, bacteria, spores, moulds: laboratory tests
To ensure the effectiveness and safety of our devices, we had them tested by an authoritative specialised structure, Laboratori ARCHA in Pisa, a team of professional chemists with a certified and cutting-edge laboratory, fitted out with equipment and extremely qualified personnel.
Tests show that treatment with Non-Thermal Plasma (low-temperature plasma) has an excellent disinfecting and sanitising effect towards viruses, bacteria, spores, moulds and other pathogens, among the most dangerous and common are Salmonella spp., Escherichia Coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Tests that were carried out show clear signs that even after just a short time of exposure (2 minutes) the biocidal activity of the NTP air is able to eliminate 100% of the microorganisms: plates exposed to NTP air don’t show any growth of the microbial strains tested, instead they developed normally on plates when exposed to air. After just 5 minutes, all tested species are completely eradicated from the surface of all plates.
Jonix Technology used on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
One of the most investigated fields is that of reducing VOCs which make up a wide range of pollutants in gas form. The ionization process involves the formation of oxidising particles that react quickly with the VOCs, breaking them down and thus leading them to dismantle. Ionisation through NTP is able to act on inorganic pollutants like those found in exhaust gasses of vehicles.
100% Purified air
In other words: positively and negatively charged ions emitted by Jonix devices attack the molecular structure of all polluting substances (viruses, allergens, bacteria, moulds, volatile organic compounds, odours) present in the air in your indoor spaces activating the oxidation process that disintegrates and breaks them down.
The active particles in Non-Thermal Plasma amass together the particulate matter dispersed in air (PM10; PM2,5 etc.) and make it fall to the ground this way reducing the possibility of inhalation through breathing.
Jonix devices purify and sanitise the air you breathe bringing relief in the presence of respiratory disease and allergies. They can contribute to the natural improvement of coughs and colds in children and the elderly, increase the amount of oxygen your body absorbs and give an overall sense of well-being to your body.
Do you want to know if Jonix has the devices that are right for you? Write to us at support@jonixair.com: one of our experts will answer all of your questions.