Egg white can be turned into a substance that filters microplastic particles from seawater.

US scientists have found a way to turn egg whites into a new material that can cheaply remove salt particles and plastic from seawater.

Previous studies have estimated that there are 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastic polluting the world’s oceans, necessitating finding ways to filter these particles.

Scientists have noticed that the proteins in egg whites can be used to create a substance called aerogel, a type of lightweight, porous material that could have a variety of potential applications, including water filtration. , energy storage, sound and heat insulation.

Materials scientist Professor Craig Arnold of Princeton University in New Jersey says the path to this success actually began with a completely different food, an idea he had while sitting in a faculty meeting.

“I was sitting looking at the bread in a sandwich and I thought, ‘This is exactly the structure we need,’” he said.

Based on this, Professor Arnold and his colleagues set out to make different types of bread mixed with carbon to see if they could create the aerobic structure they were looking for.

Since none of the initial recipes worked, the team began scraping ingredients during testing, and eventually only egg whites remained.

Professor Arnold revealed that he and his team started with a more complex system until they needed it, saying, “The proteins in the egg white got us to the structures we needed.”

Egg whites are a complex system of almost pure protein, and when dried in an oxygen-free environment and heated to 900 degrees Celsius, it forms a structure made up of interconnected layers of carbon fibers and graphene, he said. .

This material can remove both salt and microplastics from seawater with 98% and 99% efficiency, respectively.

The paper’s author, Aramco Research’s Dr. Samos Özden adds, “Egg whites work even when first fried or beaten on the stove.”

While the team used purchased egg whites for their first test, Dr. Osden explained that other similar commercially available proteins have produced similar results, meaning the substance can be produced cheaply and on a large scale without affecting the food supply.

Having completed the preliminary study, the researchers are now working to refine their manufacturing processes of the material so that it can be used for large-scale water purification.

According to the team, their materials are not only efficient and cheap to manufacture, but also energy efficient, requiring only gravity to operate, unlike alternative technologies such as “reverse osmosis” (a method of purifying water ), which requires a large input. your energy.

said Dr. “Activated carbon is one of the cheapest materials used in water treatment. We compared our results with activated carbon and it was better,” said Osden.

The full results of the study were published in the journal Materials Today.

Source: Express