Molecular Trap to Clean Water

 


Water pollution like leftover medicines and hygiene products end up in lakes and rivers. A team from the university of Manchester has created a new material that could help reduce this water pollution. The research was posted to Cell Reports Physical Science. It describes a novel way to use a molecular structure called a metal organic cage or MOC. These small cages act like traps. They can hold harmful molecules that can be found in our drinking water supplies.

In the past, MOCs have been studied for use with gas and chemical capture. They are studied in chemical solvents, because their behavior differs when in water. Being able to show the capture of established wastewater pollutants is a viable step for MOCs. 

Jack Wright is a researcher at the university of Manchester. He reports, “being able to use MOCs in water is a really exciting development. We know how valuable MOCs are for capturing unwanted substances, but until now researchers have not been able to apply them to real world water systems. Many harmful chemicals are difficult to remove from water, and with  water pollution becoming a global crisis, the new MOC could provide a valuable tool to help clean up water systems and prevent pollutants from entering our ecosystems, particularly in rivers and lakes near urban or industrial areas where wastewater discharge is most common.”

The cages are composed of metal ions that are connected by organic molecules. The form is a hollow structure that is pyramid-like. The hollow spaces are where the MOC traps molecules like gases are pollutants.

Scientists have added sulfonates to make it compatible with water and allowing MOCs  to function in real world water systems. MOCs use something called hydrophobic binding. This is where a contaminant molecule sticks inside of the cage rather than staying in the water. The MOC’s consecutively capture and hold pollutants.

Dr Imogen Ridelell is a researcher at the University of Manchester. He summarizes, “ One of the real strengths of this method is it flexibility. The approach we have developed could be used to design other water soluble MOCs with different sizes or properties. This opens the door to many future applications, including cleaning up different types of pollutants, development of green catalysts or even development of drug delivery strategies.”

Scientist are worked on ways to capture even more and different contaminants! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mike Giradi from Stereotimes commentary on Holostage Room Treatments

I have been  friends with Mike Giradi for a few years and he has helped me test numerous designs .    I was so honored a few weeks ago when he agreed to give these Holostages a few words.  From. Mike G. The sound was a little closed in at first, but then it really opened up to prove it is another great audio product. The noise floor is greatly reduced. I am hearing details I've never heard before. When it's in the recording, the soundstage widens in all directions. The timbre of each instrument is spot on. The six Holostages installed in my room aided in the C13 alignment of air molecules to a far greater extent than the Bybee IQSE devices I had previously been using. Every instrument had greater depth, pop and presence. Listening to classical music on movie soundtracks is incredible now. The Holostages installed on my BACCH4MAC and monoblocks was the answer to what was needed. The noise floor dropped significantly in both cases resulting in greater clarity and music...
Read more

Queen Bee 🐝

Image
  Bees hide an interesting secret. When the hive loses its queen, who alone is able to give life to the colony and maintain order in a perfectly organized society, all seems lost. The life of the hive slows down. Without new eggs, the future is lost. In a few weeks, the colony may be doomed. But the bees do not panic. Nor do they expect salvation from outside. Demonstrating extraordinary collective intelligence and profound instincts, they trigger spectacular emergency procedures, almost unimaginable in a world dominated by insects. --- ◆ The transformation begins with a simple but essential choice The worker bees choose common larvae - those who would normally be mere workers. They are nothing special. They are not born different. But their fate changes completely. They are chosen to receive a special food: royal jelly. A rare substance, produced by healthy bees, rich in proteins, vitamins and bioactive compounds. This is royal food in the purest sense of the word. The larvae fed ...
Read more

Novel Acoustic Wave Discovered

Image
  A new diffraction phenomenon was researched and published on January 14, 2025. The team was led by Tohoku University with collaboration from the Japan atomic energy agency and the RIKEN Center for emergent matter science. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are elastic vibrations. They travel along the surface of materials, not unlike ripples on a pond. SAWs are an important part of frequency filters used in every day devices like our cell phones. These devices change electrical signals in vibrations, or ripples. This occurs because of the piezoelectric  effect and it enables efficient signal processing. During this experiment, the team created a periodic array of magnetic nanoscale materials. The magnetic array is a sort of specialized grating that the waves passed through. The scientists were surprised. Instead of the usual symmetric defraction, the team saw something different. They observed a completely new, asymmetrical diffraction of SAWs called ‘non-reciprocal defraction’....
Read more