Revolutionary Self-Floating Film Purifies Water with Sunlight
A groundbreaking self-floating photocatalytic film, developed by the Zhang Research Group at South China University of Technology, harnesses sunlight to generate oxygen-centered organic radicals (OCORs) for water purification. This innovation addresses the global crisis of safe drinking water, with approximately 4.4 billion people lacking reliable access, resulting in up to 2 million deaths annually, predominantly young children.
The film maintains its performance even under low-light conditions, providing safe drinking water for four to five adults daily. Unlike previous methods such as chlorination, UV treatment, and SODIS, which have limitations in effectiveness and practicality, this new film can eliminate over 99.99% of bacteria in contaminated water.
The film's OCORs have lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than conventional reactive oxygen species, enabling it to break down organic pollutants and suppress bacterial regrowth for at least five days. Remarkably, the film can be reused over 50 times while maintaining stability and cost-effectiveness. In tests, the film achieved over 4.3-log bacterial inactivation in 10 liters of highly contaminated water within 40 minutes, with radicals lasting nearly 14 minutes.
The self-floating photocatalytic film, made from a specially developed conjugated polymer photocatalyst, offers a promising solution to the global water crisis. It provides a stable, cost-effective, and practical means of water purification, even in low-light conditions. With further development and deployment, this innovation could significantly reduce waterborne diseases and save countless lives.
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