Did you know that polar bears are not white, but translucent? In fact, although it cannot be discerned with the naked eye, the coat that covers their body is composed of hollow hairs, with air bubbles in every fiber. It gives a white impression that makes you believe that it is the same color as
This zoological oddity has not gone unnoticed by an international group of scientists at Madrid’s Complutense University (Spain). They took inspiration precisely from this interesting arrangement of the polar bear’s fur coat to develop a nanostructured membrane capable of desalinating water.
Mohamed Qayet is the head of Department of Applied Physics I at CUM and the main person responsible for this research. Using the structure of fur as a model, he and his team Low thermal conductivity, high porosity, rough surface membranethis also Hydrophobic, that is, water repellent. All these properties combine to make it an ideal tool for desalination of water with high salinity or salinity. According to its creators, this kind of nanofiber weft allows us to obtain drinking water, mainly pure water.
This research is set within the context of technology, which has a growing number of advocates and applications. film distillationThis is a process in which water evaporates on one side of the pore and then water vapor condenses on the other side, already free of salt particles.
Nonetheless, this membrane can concentrate and remove proteins, antioxidants, dyes or heavy metals from products and thus could offer a promising future in the pharmaceutical, food, textile or metallurgical industries in addition to desalination. .
The results of this study are Journal of Materials Chemistry ACUM, as well as Donghua University (China) and the instituto IMDEA Water chapter (Madrid, Spain).
Source: Agencia Sync, UCM
