Mizzou’s Susie Dai recently applied a revolutionary strain of algae toward capturing and removing harmful microplastics from polluted water. Driven by a mission to improve the world for both wildlife and humans, Dai also aims to repurpose the collected microplastics into safe, bioplastic products such as composite plastic films.
“Microplastics are pollutants found almost everywhere in the environment, such as in ponds, lakes, rivers, wastewater and the fish that we consume,” Dai, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and principal investigator at the Bond Life Sciences Center, said. “Currently, most wastewater treatment plants can only remove large particles of plastic, but microplastics are so small that they slip through and end up in drinking water, polluting the environment and harming ecosystems.”
Lab-grown algae removes microplastics from water
