We Created A New Material From Orange Peel That Can Clean Up Mercury Pollution

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When researchers combined two industrial waste products they created a material that could clean up mercury. Angellodeco/Shutterstock

Mercury pollution is one of the most insidious problems in our environment. Today my colleagues and I at Flinders University have unveiled a new material than can scrub mercury from the environment, as a result of research to be published this week. The material – sulphur-limonene polysulphide – binds to mercury and changes colour, helping us see how effective it is.