Chinese scientists have developed a metal-free catalyst that can purify pathogen-rich water in half an hour.
The study published in the latest version of journal Chem described the method that could produce drinking water in 30 minutes with a disinfection efficiency over 99.9999 percent under visible light.
To disinfect water with sunlight and with metal is cost-effective but leads to second pollution. The metal-free catalysts, however, tend to have lower efficiency, according to the study.
Researchers from Yangzhou University and the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a material based on graphitic carbon nitride.
They used wet-chemical method to introduce certain chemical groups at the edges of graphitic carbon nitride, significantly improving its ability to disinfect.
"Its first-order disinfection rate was five times higher than that of previously reported best metal-free photocatalysts with only one tenth catalyst consumption," said the paper's co-author Wang Chengyin from Yangzhou University.
This catalyst can be fixed on substrates, reducing the potential toxicity caused by dispersed nano-materials in drinkable water, according to the study. (Xinhua)
Chinese scientists have come up with a new membrane material which can efficiently separate salt from water and has other water purification functions. A research program with the Zhejiang University developed the membrane formed by nanoscale bubbles and tubes. The material allows water to permeate three to four times faster than traditional membrane for water purification.
A photocatalyst is a substance that can help cause a light-catalyzed reaction. A research team from Southwest Petroleum University in Sichuan Province has developed a low-cost, high-efficiency photocatalyst that uses visible light to purify water. After four months of research, they developed a new photocatalyst Reac-O2 with good visible light absorption performance.
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