Pollen shells treated with thyme and mint soak up dye pollution
Mahmad Rozi SK, Shamsudin S, Abdul Halim HN, Mahmad Puzi S, Afrizal NAM
Phytoremediation
If you've ever noticed dye runoff tinting a creek near a textile or craft dye operation, this points to a plant-derived cleanup material tough enough to be reused six times and gentle enough that pea seeds sprout fine in its leftover waste.
Researchers took sporopollenin, the tough outer shell of pollen grains, and coated it with a natural solvent made from thyme and mint oils. This souped-up pollen shell grabs onto pink Rhodamine B dye from dirty water almost four times better than plain pollen shells, and it works on real wastewater, not just lab samples. Even better, after it's done its job and gets thrown away, pea seeds grown in that leftover material sprout just as well as they would in clean water.
Key Findings
DES functionalization increased Rhodamine B dye uptake by nearly fourfold compared to untreated sporopollenin
Adsorption is spontaneous and exothermic, with ΔG° from -2.39 to -0.64 kJ/mol and ΔH° of -28.27 kJ/mol
The material remained effective through six reuse cycles and showed no toxicity, with Pisum sativum (pea) seeds achieving 100% germination after exposure to the disposed adsorbent
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists coated pollen grain shells with a plant-based solvent made from thyme and mint compounds, creating a cheap filter material that soaks up nearly four times more dye from wastewater than untreated pollen, and the leftover waste is safe enough that pea seeds still sprout perfectly in it.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Enhancing dye adsorption performance of sporopollenin through Thymssol-Menthol-based deep eutectic Solvent functionalization.
Dye pollution from industrial wastewater, including that from the batik industry, threatens aquatic ecosystems and water resources. Adsorption is a cost-effective and sustainable method for dye rem...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Thyme is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus Thymus of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and North Africa. Thymes have culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. The species most commonly cultivated and used fo...