According to some estimates, up to a third of the global population doesn’t have access to safe drinking water. Half of the population could live in water-stressed areas as early as 2025. This problem is of great concern to engineers and scientists around the world. It could save lives and improve the quality of life for millions.
The University of Texas at Austin has created a hydrogel tablet that can quickly purify contaminated waters. One pill can quickly disinfect a liter of water from polluted rivers and make it safe to drink in less than an hour,” Guihua Yu, associate professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute, said.
The primary method of purifying water today is to boil or pasteurize it. This takes effort and a lot of time. This is only feasible for people living in areas with the necessary resources.
Hydrogels can produce hydrogen peroxide that can kill bacteria with an efficiency rate greater than 99.999%. Hydrogen peroxide is combined with activated carbon particles to disrupt the metabolism of bacteria.
This process is energy-efficient and produces no harmful byproducts. Hydrogels are easy to remove and don’t leave behind any residue.
Hydrogels can purify water by themselves, but they could also be used to improve an aging process: solar distillation. This is using sunlight to separate water and harmful contaminants through vaporization.
Biofouling is a problem that solar distillation systems can encounter. This is when microorganisms build up on the equipment, causing it to malfunction. This can be prevented by using hydrogels that kill bacteria.
Keith Johnston, a professor at the McKetta School of Chemical Engineering, who led the project, said that Youhong Guo, a highly-sensible graduate student, discovered hydrogels while purifying water with sunlight.
Hydrogels can be improved by increasing the number of viruses and pathogens in the water they can neutralize. The team is also working on several prototypes.
Researchers say it would be easy to scale up hydrogels. They are easy to make and affordable. The synthesis process is simple at large scales and remains that way. They can also control the size and shape of hydrogels, making them adaptable for different uses.
