Develops the off-grid filtration technology removing over 99% of nanoplastics smaller than 50 nm
Commercially viable high-flow filtration achieved by coupling effects of electrophoresis and electrostatic interactions
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Schematics and performance of electrokinetic filtration platform
view moreCredit: Materials Today, Prof.BAIK, JEONG MIN
Professor Jeong-Min Baik’s research group of the School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering of Sungkyunkwan University has, for the first time in the world, developed a reusable electro-kinetic filtration platform capable of filtering more than 99% of ultrafine nanoplastics particles smaller than 50 nm even under commercial-level high-flow conditions.
Plastic pollution, which has surged in recent years through industrialization and the pandemic era, poses a direct threat to human health. In particular, nanoplastics smaller than 100 nm-thousands of times thinner than a human hair-can readily pass through biological membranes in the body and trigger serious diseases such as immune dysregulationand carcinogenicity. However, conventional water purification systems have struggled to effectively remove nanoplastics of such small sizes, highlighting technological limitations; studies have even reported the presence of hundreds of thousands of particles in a single bottle of bottled water.
To overcome these limitations, Professor Baik’s research group introduced a strategy that electrokinetically activates a porous metallic filter. By coating the filter surface with magnesium oxide (MgO) and a cationic engineered polymer compound and applying an external potential, the research team implemented a filter that strongly attracts negatively charged nanoplastics within water. The platform achieved over 99% removal of 50 nm nanoplastics even under commercial-level high throughput flux.
One noteworthy of this study is that the system can operate without an external battery or power supply. The platform was integrated with a triboelectric generator, which converts mechanical energy directly into electricity, thereby realizing energy self-sufficiency. In addition, by reversing the direction of the electric field, the plastic particles captured on the filter can be detached, enabling filter regeneration. The system maintained the performance even after the filter was reused more than 20 times, demonstrating strong economic feasibility.
The system also showed consistent performance across diverse real-world water conditions, including tap water and river water, and demonstrated purification capability that meets World Health Organization (WHO) drinking-water standards. Professor Baik stated, “This study is academically significant in that it mathematically clarifies the combined electro-kinetic filtration mechanism of underwater nanoplastics,” adding, “Going forward, the technology can be extended to various water purification applications, including bacterial removal and selective capture of valuable metal resources.”
This research was supported in 2025 by the Future-Pioneering Convergence Science and Technology Development Program and the MSIT Individual Basic Research Program. The findings were published in the December 2025 at Materials Today (IF 22.0), a leading journal in materials science. The research group has completed a domestic patent application for the technology and is accelerating follow-up studies toward commercialization.
Journal
Materials Today
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