The device will help clean water bodies and seas from pollution.
Scientists from Korea have created a device for the rapid detection of nanoplastics in water.
Many artificial reservoirs, as well as seas and oceans, are polluted with garbage, including plastic. The nature of their appearance is clear – plastic debris enters the water from ships and vessels, and discarded plastic can end up in the seas due to storms. Most types of plastic are not known to decompose, but large particles break down into smaller ones, which makes them quite difficult to detect in water, even for environmentalists. But nevertheless, this plastic continues to spoil the environment, the lives of marine life.
This was the reason for the creation of a unique device that detects microplastics. At the heart of the device is a thin film sandwiched between metal plates to which current was applied. The experts carried out the so-called Raman spectroscopy, thanks to which it is possible to determine the characteristics of molecules. As a result, scientists were able to detect the presence of 30-nanometer polystyrene particles with a total mass of 10 micrograms.
Using a new Korean device, scientists were able to detect plastic in water in just a few seconds. Although earlier it took experts more than one day to detect garbage nanoparticles.
The authors of the project are confident that the device will effectively and quickly purify water from pollution.
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