Re: [DIYbio] Wood filter

This. This is epic.

On 01/03/14 00:09, Nathan McCorkle wrote:
> here's the original article link:
> http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0089934
>
> TL;DR:
>
> Xylem Structure and Rationale for ue of Conifer Xylem:
> Angiosperms (flowering plants) have xylem conduits called vessels that
> are derived from several cells arranged in a single file, having
> diameters up to 0.5 mm and lengths ranging from a few millimeters to
> several meters [7]. These parallel conduits have closed ends and are
> connected to adjacent conduits via "pits" [8] (Figure 1d,e). The pits
> have membranes with nanoscale pores that perform the critical function
> of preventing bubbles from crossing over from one conduit to another.
> The porosity of the pit membranes ranges in size from a few nanometers
> to a few hundred nanometers, with pore sizes in the case of
> angiosperms tending to be smaller than those in gymnosperms.
>
> Construction of the Xylem Filter:
> 1 inch-long sections were cut from a branch with approximately 1 cm
> diameter. The bark and cambium were peeled off, and the piece was
> mounted at the end of a tube and sealed with epoxy. The filters were
> flushed with 10 mL of deionized water before experiments. Care was
> taken to avoid drying of the filter.
> The xylem filter device was constructed by simply peeling off the bark
> and cambium from a section of the pine branch and inserting it into a
> tube (Figure 2a). Although a simple tube fastener could provide a
> leak-tight seal between the tube and the xylem, we used epoxy to
> ensure that there was no inadvertent leakage. When deionized water was
> loaded into the tube above the xylem and subjected to pressure in the
> 0.5-5 psi (3.45 to 34.5 kPa) range, we found that water readily flowed
> through the xylem. The flow rate was proportional to applied pressure
>
> Conclusions:
> Pigment filtration experiments revealed a size cutoff of about 100 nm,
> with most of the filtration occurring within the first 2-3 mm of the
> xylem filter. The xylem filter could effectively filter out bacteria
> from water with rejection exceeding 99.9%.
> Pit membranes were identified as the functional unit where actual
> filtration of the bacteria occurred.
>  Flow rates of about 4 L/d were obtained through ~1 cm2 filter areas
> at applied pressures of about 5 psi, which is sufficient to meet the
> drinking water needs of one person.
>
> The simple construction of xylem filters, combined with their
> fabrication from an inexpensive, biodegradable, and disposable
> material suggests that further research and development of xylem
> filters could potentially lead to their widespread use and greatly
> reduce the incidence of waterborne infectious disease in the world.
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 9:54 AM, leaking pen <itsatrap@gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/02/27/MIT-scientists-show-tree-branch-to-be-effective-water-purifier/7811393531999/?spt=mps&or=1
>>
>> --
>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diybio@googlegroups.com.
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> diybio+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at
>> https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
>> Learn more at www.diybio.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "DIYbio" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to diybio+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>> To post to this group, send email to diybio@googlegroups.com.
>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/diybio.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/CAFaFt-QgyPK6W%2B0BUDdiuVBbHQWVjYW72ozKNSX0f0N28Zq9hg%40mail.gmail.com.
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
>

--
Please help support my crowdfunding campaign, IndieBB: Currently at
43.8% of funding goal, with 13 days left:
   http://igg.me/at/yourfirstgmo/x/4252296
T: @onetruecathal, @IndieBBDNA
P: +3538763663185
W: http://indiebiotech.com