Marina Mehling was a finalist in the 2024 UBC Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Marina presented their research, "Tree bark for clean water." They hope to capture plastic pollutants using tannins extracted from trees.
Microplastics and nanoplastics, tiny pieces of plastic too small to be seen, contaminate the world's waters. They result from the breakdown of everyday items like Tupperware and clothing, often ending up in wastewater.
Unfortunately, established wastewater treatment facilities struggle to trap these pollutants, leading to their release into the environment or re-entry into our water supply. The chemical diversity of plastics makes them tricky to capture. Existing water treatment methods either work for only specific types of plastics or lack the scalability needed for municipal water treatment. A promising solution involves using tannins from Western Hemlock bark, supplied by the Uchucklesaht Tribe, to create a scalable water treatment method that captures over 95% of these minuscule plastics. Tannins might also prove effective in capturing other challenging pollutants in our water, highlighting the potential of tree bark to clean our waters (without relying on more plastic-based technologies!).
Marina Mehling is completing their PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Orlando Rojas.
#3MT is an academic competition that assists current graduate students with fostering effective presentation and communication skills. Participants have just three minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their research project to a non-specialist audience. For more information or to participate in UBC’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) visit 3mt.grad.ubc.ca.
25 июл 2024
