The material, which was developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, could also combat the widespread problem of toxic dye discharge from the textile industry.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are currently over two billion people living with limited or no access to clean water.
The new material is based on cellulose nanocrystals which have an extremely high absorption capacity.
“We have taken a unique holistic approach to these cellulose nanocrystals, examining their properties and potential applications. We have now created a biobased material, a form of cellulose powder with excellent purification properties that we can adapt and modify depending on the types of pollutants to be removed,” said Gunnar Westman.
The researchers show how toxic dyes can be filtered out of wastewater using their material and the treatment requires neither pressure, nor heat and uses only sunlight to catalyse the process...