I'm currently doing a small research project on vertical green systems and plants that cleanse the air from pollutants and dust particles. I'm specifically looking for climbers and succulents. Can anyone point me in the direction of an existing chart that gives data and a scale on which plants are best to use?


I'm working on a VGS for the outside of buildings

If you are basing your research on the old NASA experiment with plants and air cleansing, you will have to go back and read the original report. The air cleansing was done by the charcoal filters the plants were growing in. The plants chosen were the plants available at the nearest Big Box store. There was nothing special about them.

The plants that will respirate fastest will be the plants that grow the fastest as respiration is part of the process of photosynthesis. But they won't do any air cleaning.

If by "air cleaning" you mean create more oxygen from CO2, go with the faster growing plants.

For soil toxin cleaning (as a related note), there are multiple studies on plants like sunflowers and peas being used for site monitoring. (And sagebrush is sometimes used to look for gold deposits around here.) The idea is similar to the NASA experiment and it may be helpful to check through those references for additional usable search terms.

Healthy plants that are growing vigorously are best at removing some toxins from the air, but the benefits are limited. Select plants based on the available light rather than their alleged ability to remove pollutants.

But only if you can fit 5000 plants into your room.

https://www.nationalgeographic...