2023-08-30 06:00:02
Researchers have just developed a “smart rust” capable of attracting pollutants in water. A solution that might help clean our waterways from petroleum residues, plastics, glyphosate and even certain hormones.
Representation of a “smart rust” nanoparticle, in which hair-like surface molecules (black) capture estrogen molecules (green).
Center for Computational Chemistry (Computing – contraction of information and automation – is the domain…) (CCC), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
To achieve such a result, scientists from the German University of Erlangen-Nuremberg coated spherical nanoparticles of oxide (An oxide is a compound of oxygen with a minus element…) of iron (Iron is a chemical element, with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is…) (commonly called “rust”), with acid molecules (An acid is a chemical compound generally defined by its reactions.. .) phosphonic. These molecules thus applied, come to be grafted like “hairs”, protruding from the surface of the molecules.
Then the researchers applied various compounds to coat these molecules, thus giving them specific capacities. Indeed, the researchers found that depending on the coating applied, it was possible to “parameterize” their ability to attract such and such a pollutant (The definition of pollutant most often used is: an alteragen, etc.) .
The fact that iron oxide has a superparamagnetic nature has greatly facilitated its manipulation: this allows it to be attracted by magnets, without the particles attracting each other. As a result, they can spread easily in water, capture pollutants, and then be recovered by the simple use of a magnet (A magnet is an object made of a hard magnetic material, i.e. including the…).
During the first tests, the researchers managed to capture oil in water collected from the Mediterranean Sea (Mediterranean means between the lands. The Mediterranean Sea is an intracontinental sea…). Then by adjusting the surface properties of the nanoparticles, they succeeded in isolating glyphosate (Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, C3H8NO5P) is a total weedkiller,…) in water from a pond ( A pond (estang, Latin stagnum) is a body of stagnant, shallow, surface water…). Subsequently, they also collected nano and micro-plastics in samples of river water (In hydrography, a river is a watercourse that flows under the effect of the…) and laboratory. They have thus succeeded in targeting the most common pollutants in our lakes, rivers and oceans (Oceans stylized Ωceans is a French documentary directed by…).
They then wanted to expand their trials, by trying to capture certain hormones via this system. Indeed, the latter are transported into waterways via our wastewater and, even if they are relatively rare compared to the other pollutants mentioned above, they can be harmful to underwater fauna. And they did it by capturing estrogen!
The results of this study were presented at the American Chemical Society. Water pollution is a major hot topic, let’s hope “smart rust” can help fight this scourge.
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