This week’s look at Rice science finds Dr. Vicki Colvin (right) of the Chemistry Department solving the problem of Third World arsenic pollution.
Arsenic in water, a byproduct of industrialization, is a big problem in places like India.
The solution Rice has come up with is to create nanoscale sized iron oxide — nanorust. This rust can be pulled out of solution with a handheld magnet, while other, larger forms of rust require high-power magnets to come out of solution.
Now for the best part. Arsenic binds to rust. Graduate student Cafer
Yuvez has developed a method for producing these nano-rust particles
on-site, cheaply. Villagers can do this themselves. (Lots of rust in
poor villages.) They can then filter their own water and live.
Maybe the kids will grow up to go to Rice and find something else that’s nifty. (Like win us some football games?)
