An entirely new class of filter that can remove trace-level organic contaminants from water and at the same time so highly resistant to clogging as to be self-cleaning, is now available from a spinoff of Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). The new method is expected to provide a new solution that can shorten the time of water treatment as well as a drinkable state.
Invisible Threats, Visible Solutions
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products, including drugs and cosmetics, represent a growing environmental issue. These chemicals can seep into waterways, putting the fragile ecosystems and people who need these resources at risk.
Since these contaminants are in extremely low concentrations, most of the regular water filters do not remove them effectively. Enter the new membrane, developed by a team of scientists from Kyoto University and America. The membrane — devised with an interconnected network of pores made from metal-organic polyhedra — can sense and eliminate such trace contaminants in real-time.
The researchers have incorporated the membrane in testing with various pharmaceuticals and personal care products, to positive results. Its success comes from its performance advantage over already-existing filtration systems — rather than just filtering out certain molecules, this new filter is capable of selectively adsorbing exact chemical compounds, all the way down to parts per billion. This new technology is the key to changing how we approach water treatment, with cleaner and safer drinking water for all.
Pore-Networked Perfection
The key to the new filter’s overall performance is its novel pore architecture. The pores in many existing adsorbents are too small to capture the relatively large molecules common in pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Instead, the researchers have designed a pore-networked membrane that has been fine-tuned just to capture these larger molecules.
The researchers built the holes from a set of molecular cages called metal-organic polyhedra into a three-dimensional thin film filter. What is interesting about these pores is that their strategic design enables the membrane to capture only the chemical compounds they are meant to target and allows other substances to pass through.
The researchers also vehicles that penetrate skin and allow for better drying of the microgels, which will also be studied in the future to determine the effectiveness of other types of porous fillers. This would allow them to filter a larger variety of molecules, including those found in different fluids like blood. This technology could also be useful for other applications and would enable developments in several fields such as environmental monitoring to medical diagnostics.
Conclusion
This new water filtration technology is a huge step forward in our quest to combat the increasing problem of chemical contaminants entering our waterways. If this ultra-selective membrane can remove trace-level contaminants like pharmaceuticals and personal care products as advertised, it could offer a realistic new strategy for next-generation water treatment. With further improvement and extension capabilities of the generating technique that they are pursuing, we can be more optimistic in a world where our water resources remain cleaner, safer and thrive against progressively evolving environmental harms.
