Inspired by Actinia, a sea organism that ensnares its prey with its tentacles, a team of researchers has developed a method for efficiently treating water.
The research, a collaboration of the labs of Yale's Menachem Elimelech and Huazhang Zhao of Peking University, used a material known as a nanocoagulant to rid water of contaminants. By removing a broad range of contaminants in a single step, the discovery promises to significantly improve on the centuries-old use of coagulants for water treatment. The results are published today in Nature Nanotechnology.
When added to water, conventional coagulants such as aluminum sulphate and other metallic salts remove larger particles from water by causing them to group together into larger formations and settle. Because these coagulants don't remove smaller particles dissolved in water, additional treatment methods are necessary. Employing multiple technologies for water treatment, however, is costly, energy-intensive and can require a large amount of land. Creating an efficient and easy-to-operate technology to remove all contaminants from water is key to addressing global water scarcity..
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