NOTES TECH

Novel Air Filter Captures Wide Variety of Pollutants

An air filter made out of corn protein instead of petroleum products can capture small particulates as well as toxic chemicals like formaldehyde that current air filters cannot do.

The research could lead to improved air purifiers, particularly in regions of the world that suffer from poor air quality. Washington State University engineers report on the design and tests of materials for this bio-based filter in the journal Separation and Purification Technology

The WSU researchers developed a more environmentally friendly air filter made from corn protein fibers that was able to simultaneously capture 99.5% of small particulate matter, similar to commercial HEPA filters, and 87% of formaldehyde, which is higher than specially designed air filters for those types of toxics.

The researchers chose corn to study because of its abundance as an agricultural product in the U.S. The corn protein is also hydrophobic, which means that the protein repels water and could work well in a moist environment such as in a mask.

The amino acids in the corn protein are known as functional groups. When exposed at the protein’s surface, these functional groups act like multiple hands, grabbing the toxic chemical molecules. The researchers demonstrated this by exposing a functional group at the protein surface, where it grabbed formaldehyde. They theorize that further rearrangement of the proteins could develop a tentacle-like set of functional groups that could grab a variety of chemicals from the air. www.sciencedirect.com

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