IISc researchers design novel hydrogel to remove microplastics from water

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context:

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a sustainable hydrogel specifically designed to remove microplastics from water.
Microplastics, which are small plastic fragments that can contaminate water sources, pose significant health risks to humans and are harmful to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, even reaching remote locations like polar ice caps and deep-sea trenches.

Hydrogel- Three-layer polymer:

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a novel three-layer hydrogel that effectively removes microplastics from water.
Hydrogel is created from chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyaniline, forming an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN).
This structure is enhanced with copper substitute polyoxometalate (Cu-POM) nanoclusters, which act as catalysts under UV light to degrade microplastics.
To monitor the effectiveness of the hydrogel, the researchers used a fluorescent dye to track the absorption and degradation of microplastics under various conditions, achieving removal rates of about 95% and 93% for two different types of microplastics at a near-neutral pH.
The study, which aimed also to address the challenge of microplastic detection, confirmed the hydrogel’s durability and stability across different temperatures, making it a promising solution for microplastic pollution.

Source: TH