The future in water purification lied with innovative filters from graphene
February 23, 2018 | 09:03 |1502
Graphene is a very strong material, excellent conductive for heat and electricity, and also has a huge number of other properties. Recently, scientists have found that graphene can also serve as an effective filter for water, which is perhaps one of the most useful ways to use it. A team of Australian scientists from the State Association of Scientific and Applied Research (CSIRO) found out that a specially developed form of graphene effectively copes with water purification. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. The newest water filtration system using graphene was made from a material called Graphair. Unlike the manufacture of conventional graphene, which is created by using an energy-intensive chemical process, Graphair graphene films are made from inexpensive and renewable material - soybean oil.Arslan KEMALOV
Scientists have demonstrated the effectiveness of graphene in water purification by means of a comparative test. They took one of the commercial water filters and coated it with a thin film of graphene, which contains microscopic nano-channels that retain the contaminants and pass the purified water. Then they took a sample of water from the polluted Sydney Bay and let them through the filters: with graphene and without. After just one pass, the filter with graphene completely cleansed the water to a standard suitable for drinking.
"With Graphair, we have discovered the ideal filter for water purification," says Dong Han Seo, the project's chief author. - It can replace the now necessary complex, multi-stage and labor-intensive processes in just one step. All you need is heat, our graphene, a membrane filter and a small water pump.
The main advantage of a graphene filter is that the filtration level remains high much longer than in a conventional filter in which dirt tends to accumulate on the membrane, gradually reducing the volume of water that passes. During the tests, the scientists found out that after 72 hours of use these filters lose 50% efficiency. The graphene filter, on the other hand, due to the special structure and dimensions of the membrane, is soiled much more slowly.
The study notes that about 2.1 billion people on the planet do not have access to clean drinking water. It is expected that this development will help people in such situation. Researchers are planning to begin testing the use of graphene filters in developing countries next year.
