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Science surprises with cotton sponge and squid bone that removes 99,9% of microplastics and points to a cleaner and more sustainable future

Written by Valdemar Medeiros
Published 16/01/2025 às 00:51
Science surprises with cotton sponge and squid bone that removes 99,9% of microplastics and points to a cleaner and more sustainable future
New sustainable sponge - AI generated photo

New sponge absorbs microplastics from water and could save the marine environment: researchers develop sponge that removes 99,9% of microplastics. Meet the cotton and squid bone sponge.

Studies show that microplastics can be found in everything from the clouds of Mount Fuji in Japan to the deepest trenches in the ocean. As a result, the average human ingests around 4 particles of this material in water every year. Aiming to change this scenario, scientists have developed a sponge made from cotton and squid bones, unusual materials, that absorb this waste from the water. In this article, we will learn about the new sponge that removes 99,9% of microplastics from water.

Sponge absorbs microplastics from water and could be a viable solution for depollution

The result of the new cotton and squid bone sponge was obtained by researchers at Wuhan University, in China, and is also exciting because it is financially viable. This is because other solutions, despite being successful, ended up stagnating due to high costs. In the study, published in the journal Science Advance, the authors highlighted that they developed a sustainable and environmentally adaptable adsorbent.

Made from quintin extracted from squid bones and cotton cellulose, materials used for pollution remediation, the new sponge absorbs microplastics from water and has also been tested in places such as an irrigation ditch, a lake, seawater and a pond. Its performance, according to the researchers, was remarkable. This is because it is a sponge that removes 99,9% of microplastics, and 95% to 98% after five cycles.

According to the research by Chinese scientists, the new squid bone cotton sponge has excellent adsorption performance for polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate. Another exciting point for the new sponge that removes 99,9% of microplastics is that the equipment used to produce the sponge, such as freeze dryers and mechanical agitators, are widely available.

New cotton and squid bone sponge can be applied on a large scale

The proposed new product, if applied on a large scale in future research, has the potential to transform the scenario of one of the most serious public health crises in the world. With positive results, the researchers also believe that it is possible to develop a model on an industrial scale.

In this way, the sponge absorbs microplastics from the water and could be used in residential or municipal filtration systems, such as in washing machines, dishwashers and other sources of microplastic pollution.

It is worth mentioning that microplastic pollution can contain up to 16 different plastic chemicals, often associated with highly toxic substances such as PFAS, bisphenol A and phthalates. These compounds are linked to serious health problems, including cancer, neurotoxicity, hormonal changes and developmental toxicity.

Pollution and the importance of the sponge that removes 99,9% of microplastics

To give you an idea of ​​why the sponge absorbing microplastics from water is so important, these microplastics are able to cross the brain and placental barriers, and people with these microplastics present in their heart tissue have twice the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke in the following years.

Recently, a study developed by researchers from the University of Barcelona and published in Science Direct points out that, in the marine environment, microplastics form a surface that is rapidly colonized by microorganisms, thus generating a biofilm, the plastisphere, considered a new type of potentially dangerous ecosystem.

Once formed, this community can affect the natural balance of ocean life at a microscopic level, as plastic allows potentially harmful pathogens to spread throughout marine environments.

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Marcos Fernandez
Marcos Fernandez
16/01/2025 08:10

Squid bones are a tiny part of their bodies, and we will have billions of metric tons of plastic in the environment in the coming years. It was 8.3 btm in 2017, and the forecast is 32 btm by 2050 (Geier et. al, 2017). There are not enough squid to make this viable on a commercial scale, I believe…

Severe
Severe
In reply to  Marcos Fernandez
16/01/2025 17:05

Does this substance, Quintine, only exist in squid bones?

Gil
Gil
16/01/2025 17:16

The squid is a cephalopod, and therefore, has no bones.

Valdemar Medeiros

Journalist in training, specialist in creating content with a focus on SEO actions. Writes about the Automotive Industry, Renewable Energy and Science and Technology

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