Making a Nano Water Filter

 


Water filters sold on the market today can remove contaminants. However, they are not designed to remove microplastics. On the contrary, some filters can add plastic to the water. It’s known that microplastics can cause cancer and even trigger other health problems. 

There is new research coming from the University of Missouri. Researcher Maryam Salehi and other collaborators have designed a fabric like filter to trap these tiny particles! They published the research in Applied Polymer Science. 

Maryam Salehi is an assistant professor of civil engineering at Mizzou’s College of Engineering. 

Salehi reports, “The idea is to design a filter that can be attached to a faucet so it can remove microplastic and lead at the same time from tap water. We’re envisioning an inexpensive point-of-use filter that could connect to any faucet.” 

This new filter would be made of polyvinyl alcohol fibers. These are polymers that are currently used in the biomedical field. This material was chosen because it’s low-cost and non toxic to humans, animals and plants. 

Lab testing has shown positive results! 

The material removed almost 100% of larger microplastics and 80% of the smallest microplastics. This is combined with 70% removal of lead.

Salehi summarizes, “ We still need to test the filter to see how it tolerates other conditions- such as disinfectant use in water - but the idea is to hopefully have something that can be commercialized and used to easily purify water.”

Here’s hoping. . . 

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