[자막뉴스] 어떻게 가능해?...청바지, 해양 환경 오염 막는다! / YTN

This deep blue dye is called "Prussian Blue." It's primarily used to dye jeans. It's also used to absorb and remove radioactive substances from water. However, a team of Korean researchers has discovered a new function during their experiments: It can remove microplastics that pollute the marine environment. [Jeong Young-gyun / Researcher, KIST Water Cycle Research Group: While conducting an experiment to remove radioactive cesium, we accidentally dropped "Prussian Blue" into a solution of microplastics and discovered that its removal performance was significantly higher.] Prussian Blue in powder form was added to water, and then a solution containing microplastics was added. Then, visible light was applied. The microplastics cling to the "Prussian Blue" crystals, forming colonies. This technology can even remove invisible, ultrafine plastics measuring 150 nm, which are difficult to remove with existing filtration technologies. The microplastics that have clumped together with the dye crystals settle to the bottom of the beaker, allowing for simple filtering. The research team modified the crystal structure of Prussian Blue to ensure it could most efficiently remove microplastics. This modified Prussian Blue was able to coagulate more than three times the amount of microplastics, demonstrating approximately 250 times better performance than existing coagulants. [Choi Jae-woo / Principal Researcher, KIST Water Cycle Research Group: Cyanide binds strongly to iron, making it completely non-toxic. If this is certified, it can be applied to treat difficult-to-remove nano-sized ultrafine plastics in water purification plants.] This study, which presents an eco-friendly method for simultaneously removing microplastics and radioactive materials from water, was published in the international journal "Water Research." This is Kim Jin-doo reporting from YTN. Cameraman | Park Min-yang Subtitle News | Ryu Cheong-hee #YTNSubtitleNews ※ 'Your tip becomes news' [KakaoTalk] Search for YTN and add the channel [Phone] 02-398-8585 [Email] [email protected] ▶ Original article: https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0134_202310... ▶ Report: https://mj.ytn.co.kr/mj/mj_write.php ▣ Subscribe to YTN YouTube Channel: http://goo.gl/Ytb5SZ ⓒ YTN. Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, and use of AI data are prohibited.