Lakes Environmental Lakes Environmental Research Inc., Receives Landmark Patent
French researchers have patented an eco-friendly liquid mixture that could help trap harmful pollutants from the air. The non-flammable solvent contains urea and choline salt, a common ingredient in chicken feed, says Leila Moura of the Unité de Chimie Environnementale et Interactions sur le Vivant in France. She is the lead author of a study in Springer’s journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.
Harmful gaseous pollutants in the form of volatile organic compounds are often released into the air when chemicals are used, for example in cleaning products. From a human health and environmental perspective, it is therefore important to reduce the indoor and outdoor levels of these volatile organic compounds. Many methods have already been developed to clean contaminated air, for instance, liquid mixtures that can absorb and trap volatile organic compounds are often used. Although effective, many of the current methods can be quite expensive, toxic or even unstable.
In their aim to find an improved absorbent for cleaning the air, the researchers focused their attention on deep eutectic solvents. These mixtures have recently emerged as a greener alternative to many of the liquids that are often used to absorb volatile organic compounds. Deep eutectic solvents are made by mixing two compatible components together to form a resulting liquid product at room temperature. The melting point of a deep eutectic solvent is significantly lower than that of each of its individual components.
Read more at Springer
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