Overview

• The Leibniz Universität Hannover team, led by Prof. Sebastian Polarz, is reported to have created an autonomously active hydrogel that targets microplastics in water.
• BILD reports the material cycles by sinking to pick up particles near the seafloor and resurfacing to trigger a sunlight-driven reaction that breaks them down into water and carbon dioxide.
• Dr. Dennis Kollofrath is credited with inventing the prototype at the university’s Institute for Inorganic Chemistry.
• The outlet says the results were published in Nature Communications, with initial laboratory tests described as promising.
• Scaling and deployment remain uncertain, with Kollofrath quoted saying the gel cannot be used immediately and would need further development for colder, deeper waters.