Clean water with nanotechnology
According to researchers from the International Journal of Nanotechnology, tiny particles of pure silica, coated with an active material, could be used to remove toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and other hazardous materials from water much more effectively and at lower cost than conventional water purification methods.
The availability of drinking quality water is fast becoming an international major socio-economic issue. Current water purification methods are often complicated, requiring sophisticated equipment. They are also expensive to run and maintain and often require a final costly disinfection stage. Researchers at the Mawson Institute and The WarkTM believe nanotechnology offers a simple answer to the problem.
UniSA researchers have investigated how silica particles can be easily coated with a nanometer-thin layer of active material based on a hydrocarbon with a silicon-containing anchor. The coating is formed through a chemical self-assembly process, and involves nothing more than stirring the ingredients to make the active particles.
These active particles, Surface Engineered Silica (SES), have been tested to demonstrate that they could remove biological molecules, pathogens such as viruses like the Polio virus, bacteria like E-Coli, and Cryptosporidium Parvum, a waterborne parasite. Results show that organic species can efficiently be removed at pH ranges of drinking water by stirring the coated particles in the contaminated water for up to one hour and filtering the powder.
The recent report entitled 'Water for People - Water for Life' from the World Water Assessment Program of UNESCO says that more than 6,000 people die every day due to water-related diseases, including diarrhoea, worm infections, and infectious diseases. Additionally, organic pollutants from industrial waste water from pulp and paper mills, textiles and leather factories, steel foundries, and petrochemicals refineries, are a major cause of illness in parts of the world where regulations do not necessarily protect people from such industrial outflows. Our researchers' nanotech approach to water purification could help prevent disease and poisoning for potentially millions of people.