Melbourne (PTI): Here's an advice to "purify" your home, sweet home -- get the windows fitted with stained glass with a golden touch.

A new study by a team at the Queensland University of Technology has revealed that stained glass windows that are painted with gold nanoparticles purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight.

"For centuries people appreciated only the beautiful works of art, and long life of the colours, but little did they realise that these works of art are also, in modern language, photocatalytic air purifier with nanostructured gold catalyst," lead researcher Zhu Huai Yong said.

According to the researchers, tiny particles of gold, energised by the sun, are able to destroy air-borne pollutants like volatile organic chemical (VOCs), which may often come from new furniture, carpets and paint in good condition.

"These VOCs create that 'new' smell as they are slowly released from walls and furniture, but they, along with methanol and carbon monoxide, are not good for your health, even in small amounts.

"Gold, when in very small particles, becomes very active under sunlight. The electromagnetic field of the sunlight can couple with the oscillations of the electrons in the gold particles and creates a resonance.

"The magnetic field on the surface of the gold nanoparticles can be enhanced by up to hundred times, which breaks apart the pollutant molecules in the air," Zhu said.

He explained the by-product was carbon dioxide, which was comparatively safe, particularly in the small amounts that would be created through this process. "This technology is solar-powered, and is very energy efficient, because only the particles of gold heat up."