each one of us large amount of pharmacological waste every day. Whenever you shower, do laundry, or take medicine, you expel wastewater polluting residues that even sewage treatment plants may not be able to remove.
The research team embarked on a complex task find a way to detect these substances in water, and they seem to have succeeded. Núria Fontanals leads a chromatographic research team in the Department of Analytical and Organic Chemistry at URV (University of Rovira i Virgili, Spain), together with members of the University of Florida, We have developed a system that can hold contaminants in an easier and more affordable way compared to current methods.
This groundbreaking approach Flexible cotton cloth impregnated with a polymer with properties similar to those of contaminants required to be detected. This allows the polymers to have an affinity for them and be retained within the fibers as they pass through the fabric. To do so, the cloth can be folded and stored in a container with organic solvent later.
According to researchers, This new method is much simpler, more efficient and cheaper than the systems currently in use.Furthermore, these successful results have paved the way for the study of new materials that may have an affinity for substances in more complex samples such as urine and blood, so further studies from this scientific team will be forthcoming soon. I can report good news.
Similar results obtained with cyclodextrin polymers
On the other side of the pond, a group of researchers from the Textile Nanotechnology Institute and Cornell University’s Department of Chemistry in New York can demonstrate different achievements against pollution based on the same principle. A type of fiber reinforced with a cyclodextrin polymer that can absorb harmful particles in water and air.
Cyclodextrin is a molecule produced by bacterial degradation of cellulose, Its properties are similar to those of activated carbonIt is commonly used to purify water and is known to be able to act quickly and efficiently. The New York team realized the potential this polymer could offer when incorporated into cotton fibers (a type of fabric that is very manageable), and the results look very promising.
The cloth acts like a nanometer-scale network, allowing harmful molecules to stick to the holes.
The advantage of cyclodextrin compared to activated charcoal is that it does not require combustion and is a more environmentally friendly approach as it is obtained from natural sources.
All in all, a constant scientific pursuit towards sustainable innovation and resource conservation.
sauce: Think Agency, Scientific American
