A team of researchers from Georgia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed yeast-infused hydrogel capsules to potentially filter polluted water.
Specifically, the researchers suggest that the tons of discarded yeast from beer breweries could potentially filter out lead from contaminated water quickly. Such technology could potentially benefit low-income areas with heavy lead water pollution.
To accomplish this, the researchers used the hydrogel capsules, which absorb large amounts of fluids, to construct a porous filter that collects lead as water passes through it. The researchers suggest that this filtering process is eco-friendly and uses less energy than other lead removal methods.
Courtesy of MIT.