Microplastics are everywhere. From finding small plastic debris in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica to discovering their presence in breast milk samples, the menace has established itself to be omnipresent.
Consequently, scientists are putting their best foot forward to help get rid of microplastics. Recently, Princeton researchers used egg whites to create a lightweight, porous aerogel that can remove microplastics and salt from water. Last month, robotics researchers at the University of Surrey developed a robot fish that moves through the water and holds its mouth open to trapping microplastics in an internal cavity.
According to Professor Nicky Eshtiaghi, lead researcher at RMIT University, Melbourne, existing methods could take days to remove microplastics from water. Eshtiaghi and colleagues created a cheap and sustainable invention that could achieve better results in just one hour.
The research results are published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.
Adsorbents in powdered form and a nano-pillar structure made of waste
The team developed adsorbents in the form of a powder that can remove microplastics 1,000 times smaller than those currently detectable by existing wastewater treatment plants.
"The nano-pillar structure we’ve engineered to remove this pollution, which is impossible to see but very harmful to the environment, is recycled from waste and can be used multiple times," said Eshtiaghi from the School of Engineering in a release.
RMIT University
The adsorbent is made using nanomaterials that can be mixed into water to attract microplastics and dissolved pollutants. "This whole process takes one hour, compared to other inventions taking days," said Muhammad Haris, the first author and Ph.D. candidate from the School of Engineering. He added that the nanomaterials contained iron, which played a key role in helping to use magnets that could easily separate the microplastics and pollutants from the water.
The material leaves no carbon footprints
Dr. Nasir Mahmood, the co-lead researcher, said that the nano-pillar structured material was designed to attract microplastics keeping in mind the current scenario. It does its job without creating any secondary pollutants or carbon footprints.
Eshtiaghi added that developing a cost-effective way to overcome challenges posed by microplastics was essential.
"Our powder additive can remove microplastics that are 1,000 times smaller than those that are currently detectable by existing wastewater treatment plants," she said. "This is a big win for the environment and the circular economy."
The team is now looking for industrial collaborators who can help in the material's application in wastewater treatment plants.
Study Abstract:
Environmental pollution is a significant contributor to diseases in living organisms, with water being crucial to humans, plants, and aquatic’s survival. However, removing both solid and dissolved contamination in water remains a significant challenge. Small size solids are most concerning due to the difficulty in detecting and removing them using current technologies. Therefore, developing an innovative and cost-effective method becomes a high priority. Herein, we developed a novel approach to remove solids and dissolved contaminants simultaneously using nanopillared structures composed of two-dimensional (2D) metal–organic framework (MOF) separated by carbon encapsulated iron oxide ([email protected]) nanopillars. The nanopillared structure features a high surface area (749.7 m2/g), abundant active sites, and magnetic properties for separation of pollutants. 2D [email protected]@FeO removed ?100 % micro-plastic (MP) only in 60 min with high kinetics as quantified by dynamic light scattering, UV–vis, and thermogravimetric analysis. Further, in a binary system (solid and dissolved pollutants), 2D [email protected]@FeO successfully removed both MP and methylene blue (MB) in 60 min. Zeta potential, ex situ scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and 2nd-order kinetics isotherm supported chemosorption mechanism of removal. 2D [email protected]@FeO showed 6 adsorption cycles reusability with 90 % removal capacity. The stability and the pereservance of the structure of 2D [email protected]@FeO after six cycle was proved by ex situ transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results suggest a promising pathway to addressing the removal of mixed contaminants from water in a single process and highlighting its potential in resolving critical industrial and domestic wastewater treatment.
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