Researchers have synthesized a bio-inspired polymer for water purification. The polymer was designed to mimic phytochelatin, a plant protein that selectively captures and neutralizes harmful heavy metal ions.
The hyperconfinement of the polymer enabled a flow-through system and effectively removed cadmium ions from contaminated water, making it safe to drink. The system was selective for heavy metals and provides a new way to remove specific contaminants from water.
Phytochelatin, a highly conserved protein in plants, doesn't have this problem. Phytochelatin specifically binds to heavy-metal ions and then moves them to the cellular compartment where they are unable to cause harm. Having both carboxylate and thiolate groups present in the polymer structure was shown to be key to its success. Confining it to an ultra-small volume and creating a flow-through system dramatically pushed up the loading capacity of the polymer.
The research team's achievement, synthesizing a polymer inspired by a plant protein to capture cadmium ions, is promising because the polymer is specific to toxic heavy-metal ions and works with a flow-through approach. These features are expected to improve the efficiency of water treatment -- a win for clean water.Masaki Nakahata, Ai Sumiya, Yuka Ikemoto, Takashi Nakamura, Anastasia Dudin, Julius Schwieger, Akihisa Yamamoto, Shinji Sakai, Stefan Kaufmann, Motomu Tanaka.
Inorganic Chemistry Materials Science Chemistry Water Atmosphere Drought Research Recycling And Waste
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