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Capillary Skimming Floating Microplastics via a Water-Bridged Ratchet
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Researchers designed a water-bridged ratchet device that can skim floating microplastics from the water surface using capillary forces, avoiding the mesh-clogging problems that hamper conventional filters. This novel approach could enable more effective removal of floating microplastic pollution from water surfaces.
Abstract Floating microplastics (MPs) have recently become a major concern in marine pollution; however, current filter-based technology is hardly effective for directly removing such MPs from the water surface because of specific mesh size and clogging issues. This paper introduces a new skimming concept for removing floating MPs utilizing capillary force mediated by the elevation of a hydrophilic ratchet at the air − water interface. MPs floating near the ratchet surface are spontaneously forced toward the ratchet with a concave water meniscus, driven by the Cheerios effect. The MPs can then be skimmed and temporarily held by the deforming concave water meniscus as the ratchet rises. Here, it is found that the stability of the water bridge plays a crucial role in skimming success because it provides capillary adhesion between the MP and the ratchet. The proposed capillary skimming method is demonstrated to be effective across nearly all types of floating MPs, ranging in size from 1 µm to 4 mm, and with densities varying from 0.02 to 0.97 g/cm³, which is also demonstrated by a prototype water-bridged ratchet drum.
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Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.