US Patent Issued to The Regents of the University of California on Sept. 22 for "Apparatus and methods for methyl mercury detection and capture" (California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,741,891, issued on Sept. 22, was assigned to The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, Calif.).

"Apparatus and methods for methyl mercury detection and capture" was invented by Jennifer Lu (Merced, Calif.) and William Spaller (Merced, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Devices, systems and methods for the detection and capture of mercury and methyl-mercury from aqueous sources are provided. The devices and methods are based on a polymer platform with thiol or sulfide moieties and phenol moieties capped with an acid labile protected with an acid labile cap. Capture of the Hg or MeHg by the thiol groups releases a proton th...