Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), and from the Center for Electrochemical Research and Technological Development and the Center of Engineering and Industrial Development (CIDESI), both in Mexico, have developed a process which cleans water with heavy metals and organic compounds considered pollutants, using a new material which is produced using the peels of fruits such as oranges and grapefruits.
The research, in which the UGR participates, has served for designing a new process by which, thanks to an Instant Controlled Pressure Drop treatment, it is possible to modify the structure of said residues, giving them adsorbent properties such as a greater porosity and surface area.
Researcher Luis Alberto Romero Cano, from the Carbon Materials Research Team (Grupo de Investigación en Materiales de Carbón) at the Faculty of Science, UGR, explains that, by a subsequent chemical treatment, they "have managed to add functional groups to the material, thus making it selective in order to remove metals and organic pollutants present in water".
