Rice researchers help create rapid high-temperature process that removes heavy metals, organic contaminants.
Rice researchers help create rapid high-temperature process that removes heavy metals, organic contaminants.
Filtration systems are designed to capture multiple harmful substances from water or air simultaneously, but pollutants in soil can only be tackled individually or a few at a time ⎯ at least for now.
A method developed by Rice University scientists and collaborators at the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) could help turn soil remediation processes from piecemeal to wholesale.
A team of Rice scientists led by chemist James Tour and researchers from the geotechnical structures and environmental engineering branches of the ERDC showed that mixing polluted soil with nontoxic, carbon-rich compounds that propel electrical current, such as biochar, then zapping the mix with short bursts of electricity flushes out both organic pollutants and heavy metals without using water or generating waste.
Read more at Rice University
Image: Yi Cheng (from left), James Tour and Bing Deng (Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University)
