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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have designed a sustainable hydrogel to remove microplastics from water
The hydrogel developed by the team consists of three different polymer layers – chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol and polyaniline – intertwined together, making an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) architecture.
The team infused this matrix with nanoclusters of a material called copper substitute polyoxometalate (Cu-POM).
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These nanoclusters are catalysts that can use UV light to degrade the microplastics.
The combination of the polymers and nanoclusters resulted in a strong hydrogel with the ability to adsorb and degrade large amounts of microplastics.
The team found that the hydrogel could remove about 95% and 93% of two types of microplastics in water.
A hydrogel is a biphasic material, a mixture of porous, permeable solids and at least 10% by weight or volume of interstitial fluid composed completely or mainly by water.
In hydrogels the porous permeable solid is a water insoluble three dimensional network of natural or synthetic polymers and a fluid, having absorbed a large amount of water or biological fluids.
These properties underpin several applications, especially in the biomedical area.
Many hydrogels are synthetic, but some are derived from nature.
Microplastics pose a great threat to health as these tiny plastic debris can enter our bodies through the water we drink and increase the risk of illnesses
Scientists have previously tried using filtering membranes to remove microplastics.
However, the membranes can become clogged with these tiny particles, rendering them unsustainable.
The newly developed hydrogel usage will have solution to these issues as well
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