SAN ANTONIO — It’s a new invention that could one day allow a small community — even a home — to have it’s own water filtration system.
University of Texas at San Antonio researchers are working on light-activated materials that have the ability to purify water.
“It’s really unique and sets us apart from what other people are doing in the community,” said Kelly Nash, UTSA associate professor of physics.
Similar to a water treatment plant, but on a very small scale, the nanomaterial dissolves organic and metal pollutants in water.
“What they’re really doing is either attaching to the material or that chemical reaction or photocatalytic reaction is occurring – and that’s what’s causing us to remove the pollutants from water, said Heather Shipley, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Burzik Professor in Engineering Design at UTSA.
The invention may one day help developing countries with safe drinking water where treatment plants might not be available.
“Or potentially, we could also look at how we can apply it in oil and gas water treatment. There’s a lot of water used in oil and gas processes, and maybe looking at that or military. So, there’s a lot of different applications once we understand how it removes the pollutants, and what pollutants we can remove,” said Shipley.
The team of researchers just received a $65,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue their work.
Their next focus is to figure out how to make the material reusable.