“One material, many solutions”: IIT Guwahati develops mixed aerogels to clean wastewater, remove spills and sense strain

Guwahati: The Guwahati Research Team of the Indian Institute of Technology has developed a multifunctional aerogel with great potential to address some of today’s most pressing environmental challenges, including wastewater treatment, industrial pollution and separation of petroleum drinking water.The study, led by Professor PK Giri, Center for Physics and Nanotechnology at IIT Guwahati, introduces a cutting-edge material designed to handle industrial waste in a variety of ways. Aerogels are ultra-lightweight, highly porous materials with large surface area and excellent adsorption properties, making them ideal for a variety of environmental and industrial applications.
The results of this study have been published in the International Journal of Carbon and were co-authored by Professor Giri along with his research scholars, Koushik Ghosh, Sanjoy Sur Roy, Sirsendu Ghosal and Debabrata Sahu.
With rapid industrialization and agricultural expansion, it helps release various pollutants. From soluble organic compounds such as antibiotics and industrial dyes to insoluble oils (insoluble oils), effective wastewater treatment has become a global priority. Problems exacerbate the scarcity of clean water, which underscores the need for advanced, efficient and sustainable solutions.

Although conventional methods such as membrane filtration and chemical precipitation are widely used, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have become increasingly concerned about their effectiveness in degrading contaminants. In particular, peroxymethylsulfate (PMS) activated AOP produces highly reactive sulfates and hydroxyl radicals, which can decompose complex organic molecules even at low concentrations.

In this case, the IIT Guwahati team developed a mixed aerogel by combining MXENE, a two-dimensional material known for its high conductivity and chemical reactivity with carbon foam. By doping phosphorus into the MXENE framework, the researchers significantly improved their PMS activation capabilities, thus enabling the efficient decomposition of POPs in the wastewater. BEYOND wastewater treatment, the air gel also exhibits outstanding performance in oil-water separation. Its porous building selectively absorbs oil while repelling water, making it very effective for cleaning up oil leakage and treating industrial wastewater. Professor Giri said: “The importance of this study is not only effective, but also environmentally friendly.”

In addition, the developed aerogel acts as a flexible strain sensor. Its resistance varies in open applications in response to mechanical stresses, wearable electronics, smart devices and structural health monitoring systems.
This multi-capacity material represents a significant advance in sustainable materials science, providing scalable solutions for clean water, pollution control and next-generation sensing technologies.

Although hybrid aerogels based on TI3C2TX exhibit excellent performance, their conventional HF-based synthesis poses serious environmental and toxicity problems. To solve this problem, the research team is exploring an acid-free synthesis route for large-scale applications. In addition, they are working to introduce a cocatalyst layer to improve the performance and durability of MXENE-based aerogels by preventing direct degradation of MXENE nanosheets during the catalytic process.