CHENNAI: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and Tel Aviv University, Israel, have developed an aerogel adsorbent that can remove trace pollutants from wastewater.
India, facing the challenge of supporting 18% of the world’s population with just 4% of global water resources, has intensified efforts to address water pollution, particularly in water-intensive industries like pharmaceuticals and textiles.
The textile sector alone discharges nearly ten lakh tonnes of toxic synthetic dyes annually, posing severe threats to aquatic life and ecosystems. The research team is planning to enhance the results of the modified aerogel for large-scale applications to help this problem, according to a press release from IIT Madras.
The Graphene-doped modified silica aerogels (GO-SA) were found to exhibit remarkable efficiency in purifying water, attracting and removing contaminants due to graphene’s unique molecular structure which further enhances the available surface area of the aerogel. Under real-life conditions mimicked in their experiments, the material removed over 85% of pollutants in controlled settings and more than 76% in continuous flow conditions, the release added.