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Two teenagers from Woodlands, Texas invented a device that could help address one of the most pervasive and challenging forms of pollution on Earth: microplastics.
Victoria Ou and Justin Huang, both 17, hope to prevent that one day with their award-winning device that removes microplastics from water using ultrasonic — or high-frequency — sound waves.
It's essentially a long tube with two stations of electric transducers that use ultrasound to act as a two-step filter.
As water flows through the device, the ultrasound waves generate pressure, which pushes microplastics back while allowing the water to continue flowing forward, Ou explained.
The two teens tested their device on three common types of microplastics: polyurethane, polystyrene, and polyethylene.
In a single pass, their device can remove between 84% and 94% of microplastics in water, according to a press release. »