Advanced Nanotechnologies for water purification

Description

This webinar was organised by the IWA Nano and Water Specialist Group.

Water purification plays key roles in several important aspects: safety to humans and clean production to industries. In this webinar, we will have two presentations on the innovative technologies on disinfection and membrane processes.

The first presentation was on novel technology called Locally Enhanced Electric Field Treatment (LEEFT) for disinfection of water. It has a great potential to transform current water disinfection strategies and systems. The LEEFT is a physical treatment process that aims to utilise a strong electric field to disrupt cell membranes and thus inactivate pathogens. The electrodes installed in a LEEFT device are typically modified with one-dimensional nanostructures, such that the electric field is greatly enhanced locally near the tips of the nanostructures. LEEFT can potentially be applicable at all scales, from portable devices to point-of-use household units and from distributed community-scale treatment clusters to centralised treatment plants.

The second presentation was on the development and application of such conductive materials as carbon nanotubes, MXene and copper nanowires and their composites as model electroactive porous materials to exemplify the design strategies and environmental applications of emerging electroactive membrane technology. The speaker will introduce the electroactive membrane design principles and flow processes, discuss the underlying physical-chemical mechanisms that govern the electroactive membrane technology, and summarise our findings on the rational design of several flow-through electrochemical filtration systems toward various environmental applications.