UBC researchers Dr. Tianyu Guo (front) and Marina Mehling. Credit: UBC Forestry/Jillian van der Geest
The Challenge of Microplastics
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic that stem from the degeneration of consumer goods and hazardous waste. Keeping them out of water materials is a substantial difficulty, states Dr. Orlando Rojas, the institutes scientific director and the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Forest Bioproducts.
He kept in mind one study which found that essentially all tap water is contaminated by microplastics, and other research which mentions that more than 10 billion lots of mismanaged plastic waste will be distributed in the environment by 2025.
” Most services proposed so far are costly or hard to scale up. Were proposing a service that could possibly be scaled down for home usage or scaled up for municipal treatment systems. Our filter, unlike plastic filters, does not add to further pollution as it uses naturally degradable and eco-friendly materials: tannic acids from plants, bark, wood and leaves, and wood sawdust– a forestry by-product that is both extensively offered and renewable.”
UBC postdoctoral researcher Dr. TianyuGuo is holding 2 water samples revealing cured (left) versus untreated water( right). She belongs to a group that developed a wood dust-based filter for eliminating microplastics from water. Credit: UBC Forestry/Jillian van der Geest
Effectiveness Across Plastic Types
In their research, the group evaluated microparticles shed from widely-used tea bags made from polypropylene. They observed that their method, described “bioCap,” captured between 95.2 percent and a staggering 99.9 percent of plastic particles in water, depending on the plastic type. When tested in mouse models, the process was shown to prevent the accumulation of microplastics in the organs.
Dr. Rojas, a teacher in the departments of wood science, chemical and biological engineering, and chemistry at UBC, stresses that its tough to capture all the different type of microplastics in a solution, as they can be found in different sizes, shapes, and electrical charges.
” There are microfibres from clothes, microbeads from soaps and cleansers, and foams and pellets from utensils, containers, and packaging. By benefiting from the different molecular interactions around tannic acids, our bioCap solution was able to remove practically all of these different microplastic types.”
UBC PhD student Marina Mehling is holding a container of tannin option, which is utilized to coat the wood dust filter. Credit: UBC Forestry/Jillian van der Geest
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Towards Sustainability
The UBC technique was developed in cooperation with Dr. Junling Guo, a professor at the Center of Biomass Materials and Nanointerfaces at Sichuan University in China. Marina Mehling, a PhD student at UBCs department of chemical and biological engineering, and Dr. Tianyu Guo, a postdoctoral researcher at the BioProducts Institute, also contributed to the work.
” Microplastics present a growing risk to aquatic communities and human health, requiring innovative services. Were thrilled that the BioProducts Institutes multidisciplinary partnership has actually brought us closer to a sustainable technique to combat the challenges presented by these plastic particles,” said Dr. Rojas.
Referral: “Flowthrough Capture of Microplastics through Polyphenol-Mediated Interfacial Interactions on Wood Sawdust” by Yu Wang, Mengyue Wang, Qin Wang, Taoyang Wang, Zhengming Zhou, Marina Mehling, Tianyu Guo, Hang Zou, Xiao Xiao, Yunxiang He, Xiaoling Wang, Orlando J. Rojas, Junling Guo, 6 June 2023, Advanced Materials.DOI: 10.1002/ adma.202301531.
Our filter, unlike plastic filters, does not contribute to further pollution as it uses biodegradable and sustainable products: tannic acids from plants, bark, wood and leaves, and wood sawdust– a forestry byproduct that is both eco-friendly and widely available.”
UBC postdoctoral researcher Dr. TianyuGuo is holding 2 water samples showing treated (left) versus unattended water( right). She is part of a group that developed a wood dust-based filter for getting rid of microplastics from water. Credit: UBC Forestry/Jillian van der Geest
They observed that their strategy, described “bioCap,” caught in between 95.2 percent and an incredible 99.9 percent of plastic particles in water, depending on the plastic type.
Different types of wood waste can be used to develop the water filter. Credit: UBC Forestry/Jillian van der Geest
UBCs BioProducts Institute establishes a plant-based filter, “bioCap,” that can capture almost 99.9% of microplastic particles in water, using a scalable and sustainable option to microplastic contamination.
Could plants provide an option to the looming risk of microplastic contamination? Researchers at UBCs BioProducts Institute found that if you add tannins– natural plant substances that make your mouth tighten if you bite into an unripe fruit– to a layer of wood dust, you can produce a filter that traps essentially all microplastic particles present in water.
The innovation is still in its speculative stage, the scientists believe it can be scaled up affordably and effectively, given the best commercial collaborator.
