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Biobased Composite Aerogels for Efficient Flow-Through Capture of Nanoplastics via Multimodal Interfacial Interactions
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Scientists created a new sponge-like filter made from natural materials that can remove nearly 100% of tiny plastic particles from water. These nanoplastics are so small they're invisible to the naked eye but pose potential health risks when they get into drinking water. The filter works efficiently with very little energy, offering a promising way to clean up water contaminated with plastic pollution.
Nanoplastics (NPs) represent an emerging class of hazardous pollutants that necessitate rapid, facile, and low-energy removal strategies. However, the efficient treatment of NPs in a large water volume remains a significant challenge. Herein, a biobased composite aerogel composed of cellulose nanofiber (CNF), chitosan (CS), and graphene oxide (GO) was designed with large vertical aligned opened pores to capture the NPs by its hierarchical structures and rich interface interaction forces. The obtained biobased composite aerogel had extraordinary adsorption capability of 601 mg/g for polystyrene (PS) NPs and exhibited an ultrahigh flux of 2.4 × 104 L/(m2·h) under low pressure at only 0.01 bar. Even at 7 h of continuous feeding with 50 mg/L initial concentration (50 mg packing quality), it achieved nearly 100% removal efficiency. The biobased composite aerogel represented a useful, straightforward, and low-energy-consuming next-generation technology for continuous remediation of NPs in water, offering a promising solution for clean water restoration.
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Scientists have created a new sponge-like filter that can pull tiny plastic particles out of water quickly and efficiently, catching 95% of microplastics while letting water flow through fast, solving a common problem where filters clog up too soon. This matters because microplastics are increasingly found in our drinking water and have been linked to potential health concerns, so better, longer-lasting filtration tools could help keep our water supplies cleaner and reduce our overall exposure to these pollutants.
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Scientists have created a filter made from collagen (a natural protein, not plastic) that can capture over 98% of nanoplastics from water—tiny plastic particles too small to see that have been found in our blood and organs. Unlike current plastic-based filters, which are hard to recycle, this collagen membrane is eco-friendly, reusable, and works by chemically grabbing onto plastic particles rather than just blocking them by size, making it a promising step toward cleaner drinking water in the future.
Nature-derived hydrogel for microplastic removal
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Scientists developed a nature-based hydrogel made from chitin and lignin that can remove nanoplastics from wastewater with very high efficiency, absorbing up to 1,791 milligrams of plastic per gram of material. This sustainable, reusable filter could help reduce the amount of tiny plastic particles that reach drinking water and ultimately the human body.
Fish Gill-Inspired Bidirectional Porous Polysaccharide Aerogels for Micro/Nanoplastics Removal
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Researchers developed a fish gill-inspired bidirectional porous aerogel made from chitosan and other polysaccharides for removing micro- and nanoplastics from water. The biomimetic structure allowed efficient capture of plastic particles across a wide size range while maintaining good water flow. The study presents a sustainable filtration approach using biodegradable materials that could address the challenge of removing tiny plastic particles from freshwater systems.
Plant-Based Fiber Filter Layers Enabling Simultaneous Polystyrene Nanoplastics Removal and In Situ Hydrophobic Paper Fabrication
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Scientists created a simple filter made from plant fibers that removes over 98% of nanoplastics (tiny plastic particles too small to see) from water, which matters because these particles have been linked to health risks and are notoriously hard to filter out with conventional methods. As a bonus, the leftover filter material can be turned into water-resistant paper, meaning this could become an eco-friendly way to both clean up water and produce useful materials without waste.
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