The University of Toledo has received a $24,985 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a type of wet wipe that will dissolve like toilet paper when flushed.

The grant was issued to chemical engineering professors Yakov Lapitsky and Youngwoo Seo, who are overseeing a three-member research team which consists of Reece Kendall, an undergraduate chemical engineering major; Kunal Choudhuri, a chemical engineering doctoral candidate, and Michael Griffin, an undergraduate environmental engineering major.

Mr. Kendall and Mr. Choudhuri will “utilize molecular self-assembly principles to design the materials,” Christine Billau, UT spokesman, said.

“Michael will then use microbiological techniques in [Mr. Seo’s] lab to test whether the degradation products from these wipes have any adverse effects on wastewater bioreactor performance,” she said. “As the project progresses, the professors hope to recruit one or two more students to assist with various aspects of this work.”