Bhopal scientists’ innovation helps remove pollutants from water | Fusion - WeRIndia

In breakthrough research, scientists at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERB), Bhopal, developed organic polymers. These polymers can remove micropollutants from water and make it safe for consumption.

The scientists call them Hyper-crosslinked Porous Organic Polymers (HPOPs). A teaspoon of the powder of these polymers will cover a large surface area.

Dr Abhijit Patra, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, IISER Bhopal, led the research team. The research team includes Arkaprabha Giri, Tapas Kumar Dutta, Subha Biswas, and Waseem Hussain.

Dr Patra says that these polymers have been tested for the removal of polar organic micropollutants from water at a laboratory scale.

He added that HPOPs use cheap and simple aromatic precursors for large-scale fabrication. They do not need any transition metal-based exotic catalysts.

In their study, researchers found that one teaspoon of HPOPs can remove micropollutants from 2 litres of water in just 30 seconds. Besides, these HPOPs are recyclable and efficient. Their removal efficiency was not decayed even after 10 cycles in experiments.

Water contamination is a major problem in the country. It poses a serious threat to humans as well as aquatic organisms.

Water is mainly polluted due to organic and inorganic micropollutants. The waste discharged by domestic, agricultural, and industrial sectors contaminates the surface water bodies and groundwater.

The organic micropollutants include antibiotics and steroids discharged by pharmaceuticals and agricultural disposals like fertilizers, pesticides etc. Other organic micropollutants include industrial chemicals like dyes, food additives, and plastic precursors.

These organic micropollutants and their traces in water affect the health of humans severely. There is a process called sorption that can effectively remove organic micropollutants from water.

But, the common carbonaceous adsorbents used for water purification have a slow uptake rate. Besides, the regeneration process is tedious. IISERB, Bhopal researchers claim that HPOPs can effectively remove these organic micropollutants from water.

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