CANBERRA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia are developing plant-inspired technology to clean industrial wastewater and turn it into critical resources, including nutrients, metals and freshwater.
A team led by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) is mimicking how plants sort and identify molecules at a molecular level to develop a system for treating complex industrial wastewater, according to an ANU statement released on Tuesday.
Plants and microbes naturally absorb, purify and recycle molecules around them to access the resources they need to grow, but growing industrial activity has overwhelmed these natural systems with complex wastes that nature cannot clean up on its own, the statement said.
Wastewater from industries such as aquaculture, agriculture and mining contains valuable resources, but those resources are in a complicated mixture, according to the university.
Inspired by plants, the researchers identified biological separation mechanisms to install onto membranes. They have recently developed a membrane to recover nitrogen resources from wastewater, as they work towards a commercially viable solution. ■
