Loukia Papadopoulos of Interesting Engineering reports on a Princeton study that found that eggs can remove salt and microplastics from water.
- The researchers freeze dried and heated the egg whites to 900° C (1650° F) in an environment without oxygen.
- They found that the egg whites create a structure of interconnected strands of carbon fibers and sheets of graphene that can remove salt and microplastics from seawater with up to 99 percent efficiency.
- Importantly removing microplastics with this system is relatively easy and requires only gravity to operate.
“Other proteins also worked indicating that the material can potentially be produced in large quantities relatively cheaply and without impacting the food supply. Now, the researchers are focused on refining the fabrication process so it can be used in water purification on a larger scale.”
Read the full article here.
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