Yeast Encapsulated in Hydrogel Removes Lead From Water
Brewery waste yeast is no longer just a byproduct; it has found a new and valuable purpose—removing trace and large amounts of lead from water.
MIT and Georgia Tech researchers have developed an innovative filter using brewery waste yeast encapsulated in hydrogel. This filter leverages a process known as biosorption, where the hydrogel capsules containing the yeast trap lead from contaminated water quickly and cost-effectively, as described in the study published in the journal RSC Sustainability.
"The fact that the yeast themselves are bio-based, benign, and biodegradable is a significant advantage over traditional technologies," said Patricia Stathatou, an incoming assistant professor at Georgia Tech and one of the two lead authors of the study.
"We have the hydrogel surrounding the free yeast that exists in the center, and this is porous enough to let water come in, interact with yeast as if they were freely moving in water, and then come out clean," she added.
Alongside Christos Athanasiou, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech, Stathatou explored yeast cells' absorption capabilities in their 2021 published study. They later teamed up with Devashish Gokhale and Patrick Doyle, MIT graduate student and Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, respectively, who had previously studied how hydrogels could remove micropollutants in water.
In the new and joint study, Gokhale, the other lead author, explained how they integrated these two components to create a formidable filtration method:
"What we decided to do was make these hollow capsules—something like a multivitamin pill, but instead of filling them up with vitamins, we fill them up with yeast cells. These capsules are porous, so the water can go into the capsules and the yeast are able to bind all of that lead, but the yeast themselves can't escape into the water."
The capsules, made from polyethylene glycol (PEG), are extremely thin and porous, allowing water to pass through easily and contact the yeast inside. To place the yeast at the core, researchers had to suspend freeze-fried yeast in water before mixing it with the polymer. Then, the mixture was exposed to UV light to allow the polymers to bond and encapsulate the yeast.
After conducting several tests, the team concluded that these yeast-containing hydrogel capsules could withstand the pressure and force of running water from the faucet and remain robust when exposed to the flow forces in water treatment plants.
Read the full article here to learn about the prospects for their yeast-laden capsules.
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