India News | Water Microdroplets Can Break Common Minerals to Make Nanoparticles: IIT-M Researchers

Chennai, Jun 3 (PTI) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras have shown that water microdroplets can break common minerals to make corresponding nanoparticles. This discovery could help to make the deserts bloom in future.

In their experiment, they found that pieces of minerals such as river sand, ruby and alumina, which are very hard minerals, incorporated in tiny charged water droplets break spontaneously to form nanoparticles, in milliseconds.

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They collected the formed nanoparticles and characterised them with advanced methods. Computer simulations suggested that the phenomenon may occur by a process called 'proton-induced slip,' in which atomic layers in the minerals slip between each other, assisted by protons. In tiny water droplets, protons and other reactive species are known to exist, a release here said.

In a first research paper published in the prestigious peer-reviewed Science journal, the researchers said "microdroplet showers" composed of nanoparticles and molecules falling on Earth may be of importance to the chemical and biological evolution of the planet.

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"The science we reported, if happens in nature, could be a very important way to transform rocks to natural nanoparticles, which are active soil ingredients. To put it bluntly, we have found a way to make sand to soil," said Prof Thalappil Pradeep, Institute Professor, Chemistry Department, IIT Madras, a Padma Shri awardee, who led the research.

"Looking into the future, I might say that with adequate resources, we can help deserts bloom," he added.

B K Spoorthi, the first author of the research paper who has completed her PhD from IIT Madras, said the finding offered a transformative technique for soil formation, dramatically accelerating natural weathering processes from centuries to moments.

"Beyond its environmental benefits, this method advances nanotechnology and materials science, enabling sustainable and efficient nanoparticle production with broad industrial applications," she said.

The computational work was done by Koyendrila Debnath under the advice of Prof Umesh V Waghmare of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru and president of Indian Academy of Sciences, the release said. The findings were published in the Science Journal issue dated May 31.

Highlighting the significance of this research, Thalappil Pradeep said microdroplets are known to enhance chemical reactions, and as a result, new chemical bonds form. "We thought it may be possible to break chemical bonds as well in microdroplets. That thought led to this discovery," he said.

Speaking about the mechanism, Prof Waghmare said that the phenomenon involved complex processes inherent to microdroplets of water, and understanding its mechanism will stimulate many fundamental scientific studies. This rapid process of weathering may be important for soil formation, given the prevalence of charged aerosols in the atmosphere.

Soil forms through rock weathering, a process involving multiple factors and it takes 200-400 years to yield one centimetre of it normally, composed of varied particle sizes. Nanoparticles of minerals such as silica are crucial for the growth of crops such as rice and wheat, the release said.

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