IIT-B designs florets to remove impurities from industrial effluents

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) have designed a nanocarbon particle that can help clean heavy metal pollutants from industrial effluents.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) have designed a nanocarbon particle that can help clean heavy metal pollutants from industrial effluents.

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The nanocarbon particles or florets that look like marigolds, can remove 90% of pollutants including arsenic, chromium, cadmium and mercury from industrial effluents, claim the researchers.

The work by the team led by professor C Subramaniam was published in the ACS Applied Nano Materials journal recently.

According to Subramaniam, these florets are reusable and hence a sustainable solution to the problem of polluted water bodies.

“The nanocarbon florets are chemically and mechanically robust and stay stable over a wide temperature range. Hence, they are a convenient and sustainable solution to decontaminate water. They are reusable, all it takes is a wash with a mild acid and they are as good as new,” he said.

The traditional methods that use membrane-based filter require them to be passed through the water.

However, absorption-based filtering is easy to implement and scale, and the filter material can be reused. An ideal filter that works on adsorption needs to have a high surface area so that more impurities can stick to it. “Just having more surface area is not enough, but having accessible surface area is the key parameter,” said Subramaniam.

The team has filed a patent for their design and are looking at commercialising the filter. “More work in partnership with industry will be needed to use these nanocarbon floret filters at an industrial scale,” said Subramaniam.