Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet
Abstract Floating microplastics (MPs) have recently become a major concern in marine pollution; however, current filter‐based technology is hardly effective for directly removing such MPs from the water surface because of specific mesh size and clogging issues. This paper introduces a new skimming c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Advanced Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202408623 |
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| author | Seohyun Cho Sang Jin Park Young Jin Lee You Jun Lee Young A Lee Ho‐Young Kim Seong Jin Kim Seok Chung Myoung‐Woon Moon |
| author_facet | Seohyun Cho Sang Jin Park Young Jin Lee You Jun Lee Young A Lee Ho‐Young Kim Seong Jin Kim Seok Chung Myoung‐Woon Moon |
| author_sort | Seohyun Cho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Floating microplastics (MPs) have recently become a major concern in marine pollution; however, current filter‐based technology is hardly effective for directly removing such MPs from the water surface because of specific mesh size and clogging issues. This paper introduces a new skimming concept for removing floating MPs utilizing capillary force mediated by the elevation of a hydrophilic ratchet at the air−water interface. MPs floating near the ratchet surface are spontaneously forced toward the ratchet with a concave water meniscus, driven by the Cheerios effect. The MPs can then be skimmed and temporarily held by the deforming concave water meniscus as the ratchet rises. Here, it is found that the stability of the water bridge plays a crucial role in skimming success because it provides capillary adhesion between the MP and the ratchet. The proposed capillary skimming method is observed to be effective across nearly all types of floating MPs, ranging in size from 1 to 4 mm, and with densities varying from 0.02 to 0.97 g cm−3, which is also demonstrated by a prototype of marine robot cleaner. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e8363534b744ce7b2d57101f1b53c84 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2198-3844 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e8363534b744ce7b2d57101f1b53c842025-01-09T11:44:45ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-01-01121n/an/a10.1002/advs.202408623Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged RatchetSeohyun Cho0Sang Jin Park1Young Jin Lee2You Jun Lee3Young A Lee4Ho‐Young Kim5Seong Jin Kim6Seok Chung7Myoung‐Woon Moon8Extreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering Seoul National University Seoul 08826 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaSchool of Mechanical Engineering Korea University Seoul 02841 Republic of KoreaExtreme Materials Research Center Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Seoul 02792 Republic of KoreaAbstract Floating microplastics (MPs) have recently become a major concern in marine pollution; however, current filter‐based technology is hardly effective for directly removing such MPs from the water surface because of specific mesh size and clogging issues. This paper introduces a new skimming concept for removing floating MPs utilizing capillary force mediated by the elevation of a hydrophilic ratchet at the air−water interface. MPs floating near the ratchet surface are spontaneously forced toward the ratchet with a concave water meniscus, driven by the Cheerios effect. The MPs can then be skimmed and temporarily held by the deforming concave water meniscus as the ratchet rises. Here, it is found that the stability of the water bridge plays a crucial role in skimming success because it provides capillary adhesion between the MP and the ratchet. The proposed capillary skimming method is observed to be effective across nearly all types of floating MPs, ranging in size from 1 to 4 mm, and with densities varying from 0.02 to 0.97 g cm−3, which is also demonstrated by a prototype of marine robot cleaner.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202408623capillary skimmingcheerios effectmicroplastics removalwater‐bridged ratchetwater meniscus |
| spellingShingle | Seohyun Cho Sang Jin Park Young Jin Lee You Jun Lee Young A Lee Ho‐Young Kim Seong Jin Kim Seok Chung Myoung‐Woon Moon Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet Advanced Science capillary skimming cheerios effect microplastics removal water‐bridged ratchet water meniscus |
| title | Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet |
| title_full | Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet |
| title_fullStr | Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet |
| title_short | Capillary Skimming of Floating Microplastics via a Water‐Bridged Ratchet |
| title_sort | capillary skimming of floating microplastics via a water bridged ratchet |
| topic | capillary skimming cheerios effect microplastics removal water‐bridged ratchet water meniscus |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202408623 |
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