[LUM#12] Purifying the Air with Plants
Pauline Adler is dedicated to restoring contaminated soil, which she heals using… plants. Her research, which bridges the fields of chemistry and ecology, has earned her the “L’Oréal Young Talent Award for Women in Science”.
These are barren, raw lands. Nothing remains of their vegetation after an industry has swept through, razing everything to the ground to gain access to the soil and extract the precious minerals it contains. Nothing left… or almost nothing.“On these former mining sites, we actually find certain plants growing on soil that is toxic to most of their counterparts,” explains Pauline Adler.
Phytoextraction
In the Bio-Inspired Chemistry and Ecological Innovations Laboratory, the young researcher is studying these unique plants, known as metallophytes, alongside Claude Grison. “They are also known as heavy metal hyperaccumulators; they are capable of extracting and storing substances such as nickel, manganese, and zinc. This is what is known as phytoextraction.”
These properties make them valuable to Pauline Adler.“We use them specifically to restore these former mining sites, where they serve a dual purpose.” On the one hand, these plants help to re-vegetate these bare soils, which are vulnerable to erosion, and stabilize them to prevent wind and rain from dispersing these toxic particles.“And on the other hand, their hyperaccumulating properties literally help decontaminate the soil of these heavy metals.”
Eco-catalysts
Because zinc, manganese, and nickel, once absorbed by plants, remain trapped in their leaves. That’s where chemists come in. “ “What sets our work apart is that we’re able to recover these heavy metals so they can be repurposed—for example, in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, where they serve as catalysts for numerous chemical reactions,”explains the researcher. These“eco-catalysts”have a bright future ahead of them at a time when the focus is on the circular economy.
Pauline Adler and her colleagues are now taking on a new challenge: water remediation.“Certain aquatic plants also have phytoaccumulative properties, and we’re relying on them to decontaminate aquatic systems—for example, in New Caledonia, where rivers are polluted by nickel from mining sites.”
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