A material made from wood-processing sawdust and plant-derived tannic acid removed 95.2% to 99.9% of selected microplastic particles in laboratory column tests. The result comes from a 2023 study of bioCap, a prototype filter medium—not a commercially available household filter or proof of performance in municipal water systems.
What is the bioCap filter?
BioCap is a porous filter medium made by treating wood-processing sawdust with tannic acid, a plant polyphenol, and iron(III). The sawdust provides a water-transporting support; the coating gives particles multiple ways to attach to its surface. The researchers prepared the medium as a fixed bed in a column and pumped particle-containing water through it.
The primary study, by Wang and colleagues in Advanced Materials, was first published online June 6, 2023, and appears in volume 35, issue 36, dated September 7, 2023. It tested particles made from six plastics: polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE). The tested particles varied in charge and shape, with sizes ranging roughly from 100 nanometers to 22 micrometers. Read the study in Advanced Materials.
What does the 99.9% result mean?
In the study’s laboratory fixed-bed column tests, Wang and colleagues reported removal ranging from 95.2% to 99.9% across the tested particle types. The basic tests used a flow rate of 0.4 mL per minute; feed concentrations were 50, 100, or 125 mg/L, depending on the particle type. Those results describe specific prepared water samples and operating conditions, not a universal removal rate for drinking water.
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In a separate set of tests using 1-micrometer polystyrene particles, three differently prepared bioCap systems averaged more than 99.9% removal. That figure is specific to those particles and test setups. Unmodified sawdust removed less than 10% in the comparison, supporting the role of the tannic-acid-based treatment.
How does the material capture plastic particles?
The study attributes capture to several interactions between particles and the coated sawdust: hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, aromatic π–π interactions, and electrostatic interactions. Because particles with different charges were captured, the authors concluded that electrostatic attraction alone does not explain the result. The combined interactions help explain why the treated sawdust performed differently from untreated sawdust.
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What could affect performance?
Removal changed with operating conditions in the study. Higher flow accelerated breakthrough—the point at which particles begin passing through the bed—and increasing feed concentration could reduce performance over continued bed volumes. The authors also tested selected co-ions, metal ions, inorganic particles, and pH conditions: they reported no noticeable performance reduction from those selected interferents and no significant decline across pH 5–8. These tests do not establish performance across every natural water composition or operating condition.
Is it available or proven for home drinking water?
The reported result is from a laboratory prototype. The sources available for this study do not establish that a commercial home filter using bioCap exists, that the material has been validated in a full-scale municipal treatment plant, or that a product using it has drinking-water certification. Orlando J. Rojas, the corresponding author and a UBC-affiliated researcher, described scaling the concept down for home use or up for municipal treatment as a possibility, not as a deployed system. Contemporary coverage of the study likewise describes the result as laboratory research.
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The study is therefore evidence that a treated sawdust medium can capture a range of selected plastic particles under controlled conditions. It is not a basis for assuming that a homemade column or a future consumer cartridge will deliver the same removal, flow, capacity, or water safety.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What did the mouse experiment show?
Wang and colleagues tested water containing 110-nanometer fluorescent particles in a small animal experiment. Two groups of three mice received treated or untreated water for one week; the paper reports 97.6% removal for those particles and lower fluorescence in organs of mice given treated water. This is preliminary evidence about particle uptake in that specific experiment. It does not demonstrate a human health benefit, a disease outcome, or that the filter is safe and effective for household use.
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