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An increasing body of evidence demonstrates that there is a direct correlation between global warming and the release of heavy metals into drinking and crop water supplies, and water security remains a pressing sustainability challenge in developing nations. We present a pathway to obtain ultra-stable nanofibers assembled from small molecules in water which rival the mechanical properties of nature's stiffest materials. We then decorate the surface of these nanofibers with efficient heavy metal chelators and demonstrate orders of magnitude improvement over macroscopic alternatives in use today, offering a way to miniaturize water treatment while overcoming several complications of existing strategies.
Fonterra is a global dairy nutrition co-operative owned by 10,000 farmers and their families. As part of its strategy Fonterra puts sustainability at the heart of everything it does. Fonterra is working with MIT and Professor Ian Hunter, to look at new ways it can fundamentally transform its sustainability foot print from grass (on farm robots) to glass ( sustainable packaging). This work includes the goal of reducing and repurposing cow methane from a pollutant to an energy source while simultaneously leveraging other interlinked breakthroughs. Carl MacInnes, the Director Sales & Marketing Disruption will outline some of the ideas and approaches that are being considered.