SUSTAINABLE AND BIODEGRADABLE ADSORBENT MATERIALS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS Anita Trajkovska Broach1; Anka Trajkovska Petkoska2; 1SCIENTIST/CONSULTANT, CSI: CREATE. SOLVE. INNOVATE. LLC, Blacksburg, United States; 2FULL PROFESSOR, Veles, Macedonia (North Macedonia); PAPER: 239/AdvancedMaterials/Regular (Oral) OS SCHEDULED: 11:55/Thu. 30 Nov. 2023/Heliconia ABSTRACT: Air pollution is one of the largest health and environmental problems in the world. It is a treat for the human and animal health and is one of the leading risk factors for death. In fact, the air pollution is responsible for more than 6.5 million deaths each year globally [1]. In this study, we are presenting sustainable and biodegradable materials, which can be used as sorbents for air pollutants, such as CO2, CO, CH4, NOx, SOx, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and others. The presented sorbent materials are composed of agricultural by-products in a network of fungal threads (mycelia), named My-Com™. My-Com™ composites can be easily made in any shape, form and size. Preliminary life-cycle assessments show negative CO2 emissions for the composite production, i.e. the material production uses CO2 from the environment to produce the “mycelium-wrapped” agricultural by-product composites [2]. My-Com™ composites in their original state, as well as the amine-functionalized My-Com™ composites efficiently adsorb the small-molecule environmental pollutants, viz. CO, CO2, CH4 and others [3]. The studies of the VOC-adsorption on My-Com™ materials are in progress. Overall, My-Com™ composites are promising sustainable materials for removing pollutants from the environment, and at the end of their use, when disposed, they are completely biodegradable. References: [1] Air Pollution and Your Health (nih.gov) <br />[2] Achiya Livne et al., Fungal Mycelium Bio-Composite Acts as a CO2-Sink Building Material with Low Embodied Energy, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2022, 10, 37, 12099–12106<br />[3] Taekyoung Lee, Jaeyun Choi, Mycelium-composite panels for atmospheric particulate matter adsorption, Results in Materials 11 (2021) 100208 |