Geologically Inspired Monoliths for Sustainable Release of Essential Minerals into Drinking Water

Abstract

Decreasing mineral content in drinking water is a serious concern especially due to the proliferation of desalination technologies. We present an approach to remineralize water with essential minerals such that their concentrations are at the recommended daily dose. We accomplished this using composite materials whose composition and surface area were tuned to achieve constant release of minerals into water over a prolonged period of time. We developed a nature-mimicking tectosilicate porous composite matrix and used it as a structural framework to incorporate leachable minerals to the extent of 40% of the whole mass, which were released into the water during its functional working life. Release of not only the common macro minerals but also the vital trace minerals was possible in this work. Compacted composites of this kind have been used to create mineralization cartridges. The greenness of these composites evaluated from several sustainability metrics shows that the manufacturing process has minimum or negligible carbon emission, E-factor, and energy consumption. This methodology may be extended to encompass all the essential minerals expected to be present in water.

Therapeutic coordination polymers: tailoring drug release through metal–ligand interactions

“…57 In comparison, a dose containing 100 mg of Diclofenac from ZnDiclo6 would contain just under 11 mg of zinc, which is actually below zinc's daily recommended intake. 58,59…”

“…57 In comparison, a dose containing 100 mg of Diclofenac from ZnDiclo6 would contain just under 11 mg of zinc, which is actually below zinc's daily recommended intake. 58,59 Conclusions This work has provided the foundation required to create tailormade drug-release materials based on TCPs in which drug release rates can be primarily tuned by the strength of metalligand interactions, and nely tuned by altering the organic linkers used in their formation. These preliminary studies demonstrate the signicant advantages of TCPs, which could be used in a variety of applications.…”

Arsenic Toxicity: Carbonate’s Counteraction Revealed

“…We propose that a divided dose of mineral balanced water containing sodium carbonate and/or calcium carbonate at concentrations adjusted according to the As content can be the best way to compensate for the multiplex complications caused by As in the human system. While developing advanced materials to create an affordable drinking water purifier, we have reported in our earlier work that 20–50 ppm of carbonates and other essential minerals can be released continuously and sustainably from confined scaffolds. , The use of such sustainable carbonate releasing encapsulations can provide cytoprotection against As toxicity at an affordable cost, without any energy demand. This paper stands as preliminary evidence to tackle the mass poisoning scenario by using this sustainable and affordable solution.…”

“…While developing advanced materials to create an affordable drinking water purifier, 45 we have reported in our earlier work that 20−50 ppm of carbonates and other essential minerals can be released continuously and sustainably from confined scaffolds. 46,47 The use of such sustainable carbonate releasing encapsulations can provide cytoprotection against As toxicity at an affordable cost, without any energy demand. This paper stands as preliminary evidence to tackle the mass poisoning scenario by using this sustainable and affordable solution.…”

Eco-Friendly Urea Nanosack: Jute Grafted Silica Nanoring Woven Fertilizer to Control Urea Release and Enhance Crop Productivity

“…12 Among the inorganic materials, porous engineered platforms have gained more interest especially to serve as nutrient reservoirs; in this context porous silicate has been used for the sustained release of nutrients to drinking water. 13 Further, the biodegradability of the porous silicon morphology used for the controlled delivery of a neural growth factor ensures its environmental safety. 14 We have used porous silica as the carrier for the targeted fertilizer carrier, but not for a fertilizer coating.…”