About AeroPure

The Extraction of Contaminants in Water with Aerogel

At AeroPure, our vision is to ensure that every individual has access to clean water. Two thirds of the world is still plagued by water scarcity, and 3.6 million people die from water-related diseases a year. AeroPure takes a different approach by using cellulose and alginate aerogels as sorbents to remove industrial and agricultural contaminants from your water. We target individual consumers in areas where there is an absence of adequate filtration systems, with options being too costly or difficult to maintain, and areas that use wells as their main source of water.

The Problem

Our Innovation

How AeroPures Work?

1

Fill

Fill your reusable mesh bag with one packet of cellulose aerogel beads and one packet of alginate aerogel beads.
2

Soak

Place your AeroPure in the unfiltered water for 1 to 2 hours to allow the contaminants to be uptaken by the beads.
3

Squeeze

Squeeze your AeroPure to remove the organic compounds, and wash it in a vinegar solution to remove the metals and prevent biofouling.
4

Repeat

Using the same beads, your AeroPure can be reused 10 to 30 times with a < 1% decrease in absorption capacity before repeating this process.
The Solution

Our Technology

Aerogels


Cellulose Aerogel

Cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on Earth, making up 40% of plant biomass, and is the main substance in the walls of plant cells. At AeroPure, we extract cellulose from biowaste such as recycled paper, rice husks, and orange peels to make cellulose aerogels, which repurposes waste material, lowers costs for raw materials, and allows them to be biodegradable.

Alginate Aerogel

Alginate is a naturally occurring anionic polymer found within the cell walls of brown algae. At AeroPure, we use alginate aerogels to adsorb toxic heavy metal ions such as lead (Pb2+) and cadmium (Cd2+) from polluted water, which are the result of the direct or indirect release of metal from industrial settings.