A new class of carbon nanotubes could be the next-generation clean-up crew for toxic sludge and contaminated water, say researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Enhanced single-walled carbon nanotubes offer a more effective and sustainable approach to water treatment and remediation than the standard industry materials—silicon gels and activated carbon—according to a paper published in the March issue of Environmental Science Water: Research and Technology.
RIT researchers John-David Rocha and Reginald Rogers, authors of the study, demonstrate the potential of this emerging technology to clean polluted water. Their work applies carbon nanotubes to environmental problems in a specific new way that builds on a nearly two decades of nanomaterial research. Nanotubes are more commonly associated with fuel-cell research.
“This aspect is new—taking knowledge of carbon nanotubes and their properties and realizing, with new processing and characterization techniques, the advantages nanotubes can provide for removing contaminants for water,” said Rocha, assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science in RIT’s College of Science.
Rocha and Rogers are advancing nanotube technology for environmental remediation and water filtration for home use.
“We have shown that we can regenerate these materials,” said Rogers, assistant professor of chemical engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. “In the future, when your water filter finally gets saturated, put it in the microwave for about five minutes and the impurities will get evaporated off.”
Carbon nanotubes are storage units measuring about 50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Carbon reduced to the nanoscale defies the rules of physics and operates in a world of quantum mechanics in which small materials become mighty.
“We know carbon as graphite for our pencils, as diamonds, as soot,” Rocha said. “We can transform that soot or graphite into a nanometer-type material known as graphene.”
A single-walled carbon nanotube is created when a sheet of graphene is rolled up. The physical change alters the material’s chemical structure and determines how it behaves. The result is “one of the most heat conductive and electrically conductive materials in the world,” Rocha said. “These are properties that only come into play because they are at the nanometer scale.”
The RIT researchers created new techniques for manipulating the tiny materials. Rocha developed a method for isolating high-quality, single-walled carbon nanotubes and for sorting them according to their semiconductive or metallic properties. Rogers redistributed the pure carbon nanotubes into thin papers akin to carbon-copy paper.
“Once the papers are formed, now we have the adsorbent—what we use to pull the contaminants out of water,” Rogers said.
The filtration process works because “carbon nanotubes dislike water,” he added. Only the organic contaminants in the water stick to the nanotube, not the water molecules.
“This type of application has not been done before,” Rogers said. “Nanotubes used in this respect is new.”
Learn more: Reusable carbon nanotubes could be the water filter of the future
[osd_subscribe categories=’water-purification-2′ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “WATER PURIFICATION”‘]
The Latest on: Water purification
[google_news title=”” keyword=”water purification” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Water purification
- South Korean firm provides university in Vietnam’s Tra Vinh with water purification technologyon April 28, 2024 at 3:50 am
Aquaworks will supply the university with water purification equipment to facilitate its study on water treatment ...
- Google data center would be among Cedar Rapids’ largest water and energy userson April 28, 2024 at 3:30 am
As Google considers whether to build a $576 million data center near the Eastern Iowa Airport, residents wonder how much water and energy a data center would use and whether the project would raise ...
- Leyte town receives water filtration technologyon April 28, 2024 at 12:30 am
San Miguel town in Leyte province recently received assistance from Aqua-Aid, an organization dedicated to addressing water purity issues. The aid included a water filtration device, LifeStraw ...
- Ellsworth secures $7M for crucial water treatment overhaulon April 26, 2024 at 1:01 am
The Village of Ellsworth is eligible to receive a $2,081,000 loan and $5,528,000 grant to construct a wastewater collection and treatment system.
- Nonunion contractors sue Springfield Water and Sewer Commission to block labor agreement at $325M treatment planton April 25, 2024 at 2:51 pm
SPRINGFIELD — Nonunion contractors sued the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission this week, seeking to block a project labor agreement at a $325 million water filtration plant that construction ...
- Spearheading the New Era of Water Purification: ANGEL Space Master Series New Product Launch Event Held Successfullyon April 25, 2024 at 9:33 am
Finally, Kong Na announced the new global brand ambassador—Xiao Zhan. In the future, ANGEL will work hand in hand with Xiao Zhan to promote China's water purification technology to global audiences, ...
- Butler County community to get new water treatment planton April 24, 2024 at 1:52 pm
A small Butler County community is days away from something it has wanted for decades: a functioning water treatment plant. It may not look like much, but the two sewage treatment pits have people ...
- This LifeStraw Filter Gives You Clean Drinking Water Anywhere—And It’s Only $15 Right Nowon April 24, 2024 at 3:05 am
Get a LifeStraw personal water filter on sale at Amazon for just $15 right now. During this deal, you can save on the best filter for camping and survival.
- Riviera water treatment plant estimates explode to $300 million. Will water bills rise?on April 23, 2024 at 2:12 am
Estimates for a new water treatment plant in Riviera Beach have reached $300 million, and the city does not have the borrowing capacity to cover it.
via Bing News