This new magnetic powder can capture microplastics in water
Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/90819882/this-new-magnetic-powder-can-capture-microplastics-in-water
The material, which comes in the form of a powder and is made from recycled waste, has a nano-sized structure designed to catch invisible plastic. “It’s a porous material with a special surface that can react with microplastics,” says Nicky Eshtiaghi, a chemical engineering professor at Australia’s RMIT University who leads a research team that developed the technology. It can also capture other pollutants. The powder is magnetic, so it can easily be removed from the water after use. When plastic waste breaks down into the smallest fragments, less than 1 micrometer wide - or 1,000 times finer than human hair - it can’t be detected at wastewater treatment plants. But researchers have developed a new material that can capture and remove it before it washes into river or ocean waters and enters the food chain. Currently, wastewater treatment plants have the ability to filter out larger pieces of microplastic, but the smallest fragments escape, Eshtiaghi says, noting that “due to both lack of appropriate and easy detection instruments and lack of technology for removing microplastic smaller than 1 micrometer, a huge amount of microplastic released into bays and the sea.”