Microplastics represent a looming issue within contemporary water treatment efforts. There is a widely held assumption that here in the USA, water treatment is as effective as it can possibly be. It isn’t.
Yes, water treatment systems are extremely sophisticated, and they can effectively remove many impurities, but that effectiveness simply doesn’t apply to microplastics.
Derived from plastic products of all types, microplastics are plastic particulates that inevitably enter our water systems unintentionally. And keep in mind that animals also consume these microplastics, which is very distressing when you consider that this affects both our pets as well as the livestock we rely on for our day-to-day meals.
According to today’s guest, who you’ll be meeting shortly, the average person is now consuming roughly a credit card’s worth of plastic every week through our water and the food we eat.
Although there are still no definitive published studies on the short- and long-term effects of consuming these microplastics, it seems very likely that consuming any amount of plastic is unhealthy.
Governments and private companies are now adamant in their efforts to remove these particulates from our water supplies, and a group called PolyGone Systems is one of the most exciting currently working in this area.
Founded by Yidian Liu and Nathaniel Banks, PolyGone has designed a filter that is specifically meant to remove microplastics from water, and they’ve been working with investors and government bodies in the USA, Canada, and Europe to run pilot tests that will allow them to gather valuable data and further improve their design.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Yidian recently, and she shared some fun and interesting stories about the brief but exciting history of PolyGone, including the early days of the company when it was just her and Nathaniel working on a thesis project.
From that moment on, their company has earned its place in the fight against harmful microplastics.
The roots of a successful partnership
Yidian and Nathaniel first met during their undergraduate studies at Syracuse University. They were both studying architecture, and they were both international students as well, adapting to life in the USA. Although they didn’t share any of their courses, they often worked all-nighters in campus computer labs to finish projects and hone their skills. With time, they settled into a healthy working relationship, though Yidian admits that took some time.
“I actually didn’t like Nathaniel much at first as he was always talking and procrastinating, while I just wanted to get my work done in silence. But over time, we started to get to know each other better, and I came to appreciate his unique design skills. This is what eventually led to us collaborating on our academic research, extracurricular projects, and even business ventures in the years to come.”
Yidian & Nathaniel’s Design Thesis at Princeton Architecture
Following their undergraduate studies, they both got accepted to Princeton University’s Master’s program in Architecture, where their joint thesis research centered on designing novel waste infrastructure.
Coming from design
When Yidian and Nathaniel decided to set about creating a filter to eliminate microplastics from water systems, their shared background in design was an advantage in many ways. They had the skills to create mockup designs for prototypes and lead the project with a definitive, well-defined goal.
“On a technical side, we have skills in ideating, 3D modeling, fabricating, and iterating elegant product prototypes rapidly with minimal outsourcing.”
But as the project developed into a timely and viable business opportunity, the pair faced substantial challenges. Further, the filter design process also needed to include extensive testing and scientific analysis.
“As designers, we weren’t trained in any aspect of business management, fundraising, or venture pitching. We also aren’t trained scientists that can conduct in-depth water treatment tech experimentation and research. This made aspects of developing our water treatment product, and developing a compelling business model for it, very challenging.”
The solution for PolyGone was to find personnel who would be able to contribute key skills in these areas.
“We networked with research experts and brought them into our team to supplement our missing skill sets and took many extra-departmental courses to train ourselves on the basics of business development and management while at Princeton.”
However, in unexpected ways, their design and architecture background has come back into play in the course of all this networking
“We are great at interfacing with pilot partners and coordinating disparate groups to bring our conceptual pilots into reality. Lastly, as designers, we take pride in pushing anything we develop to be not only functional, but also ergonomic, elegant, and visually appealing, which I think is a refreshing departure from what is typically expected of water treatment technology.”
This unique approach not only allows Yidian and Nathaniel to stay true to their skill sets but also helps PolyGone and its initiatives stand out to investors and water treatment partners.
While we’re on the topic of design, this is the perfect time to talk about the design process of PolyGone’s microplastic filter, the company’s flagship project.
A filter that mimics nature
As you can tell from the name, microplastics are incredibly tiny, making the design of a microplastic filter extremely challenging.
Even if a particular design does the job of trapping microplastics with a very fine mesh, for example, deploying that design in a natural waterway could lead to interference with the local ecosystem, trapping other sediments that are vital to the immediate environment.
PolyGone has spent more than two years creating, prototyping, and refining its filter design, and the single biggest source of inspiration was the natural world. At first, the team actually used real aquatic plant roots in the filter, but this approach presented its own problems.
“The idea behind our original filter was very simple. Aquatic plant roots are very fibrous and sticky and are highly effective at trapping and absorbing small sediments from water. Why not use them to entrap microplastics? This became the underlying basis of our research while at Princeton. Tests validated that it worked quite well in a lab setting, but there were major problems with the idea for use in wastewater streams or lakes.”
Initial Design with Natural Plant Roots
Using natural roots was a step in the right direction, but Yidian and Nathaniel decided that it would be far more beneficial to use natural roots as the basis for an artificial design. The result of this line of thinking was what PolyGone is now calling the artificial root.
“Since the initial pivot, we have redesigned our ‘artificial root’ filter several times to improve its aquatic performance. While we are now very happy with our filter’s lab and small-scale field performance, we are still working hard to optimize it further.”
Microplastic filtering is still such a new field that there will likely be room for improvement for many years to come as our understanding of microplastics improves and more water treatment systems start integrating microplastic filtering.
But so far, over the course of just a few years, PolyGone has managed to create a highly innovative filter design for a vital goal in contemporary water treatment, and that innovation has caught the eye of many investors as well as other companies and entrepreneurs working in the clean tech space.
Reaching out
PolyGone Systems has grown at an incredible rate, and that’s thanks not only to some very hard work on the part of the team but also extensive networking.
While the initial filter prototype was the end result of Yidian and Nathaniel’s research while at Princeton, PolyGone has found additional funding in the years since by speaking with investors and with others across the clean tech sector.
Yidian and Nathaniel also attend numerous conferences and events where they can share their mission and potentially form business relationships.
Yidian says that, while she and Nathaniel are typically quite introverted, these kinds of events have greatly expanded their own skills as business leaders as well as their opportunities.
Yidian winning an award from the Empower 2023 Pitch Competition
“Attending pitch competitions, meeting investors and others in the clean-tech space, and doing round table panels with industry experts has been hugely transformative for us. Our first investment allowed us to take our independent research full-time and make it our career. All the talks with policy experts, scientists, government officials, suppliers, and investors are providing our team with new avenues to develop our tech and partners for pilots.”
The team as a whole has been able to boost their confidence and push even harder to make their ambitions a reality.
Every investment is a major vote of confidence. Every organization that agrees to participate in a pilot test is bolstering PolyGone’s journey toward eliminating microplastics from water systems.
Looking back on the company’s success, Yidian is blown away by just how far they’ve been able to come in such a short amount of time.
“I am honestly shocked! Just over a year ago, I was working in a small architecture office, designing ADA bathrooms by day, and doing microplastic experiments in my apartment by night. Now we have our own lab, office, research team, a validated MVP microplastic filter, and several water treatment pilots fully funded and being manufactured. It’s been an incredibly stressful and scary journey, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
In particular, she was reminded of the very beginnings of this idea when she and Nathaniel were still at Princeton.
When the two presented their research on microplastics and an initial filter design to a faculty panel, the response was less than encouraging.
“They went on for around 15 minutes, deriding us for even presenting the concept, saying we were wholly unqualified to even propose a solution for microplastic pollution. Notably, one person mentioned that, as designers, our job wasn’t to solve such complex environmental problems that operate beyond the human scale and that we should instead focus on broadening awareness of the problem and leave it to engineers and scientists.”
For Yidian and Nathaniel, this attempt to discourage the two of them from pursuing this goal actually became a source of motivation.
“We spent the next few months networking with scientists and engineers across Princeton to help us test and validate our rough concept. Upon our final thesis review, we presented more or less the same idea, but with a bunch of Ph.D. credits and citations. The jury loved it and said the idea was now ‘inspired’.”
These days, Yidian sees that early criticism as an advantage. It was a signal to start networking, to invite other perspectives to make their ideas better.
This has become a guiding star for PolyGone Systems. The goal of eliminating microplastics is bigger than any individual problem, more important than any temporary hurdles. The company is equipping itself to effectively and efficiently solve this pressing issue.
PolyGone may have had a straightforward beginning, but it has now become a powerhouse in the fight against microplastics in our water systems. What started as a two-person partnership has become a collective effort to achieve a happier and healthier planet.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.