A "super sand" that purifies and makes the water drinkable

    A "super sand" whose grains have been coated with graphite oxide could solve the problems of over a billion people who still do not have access to drinking water. It would be able to purify water with 5 times greater effects than normal sand. This is what emerges from a study conducted in the nanomaterials laboratory of Rice University in Texas.



    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    A "super sand”Whose grains have been coated with graphite oxide, it could solve the problems of further a billion people who still do not have access to safe water. It would be able to purify water with effects 5 times larger than normal sand. This is what emerges from a study conducted in the nanomaterials laboratory of Rice University in Texas.



    Using this NANOMATERIALS, the graphite oxide, through which a cover was made for each grain of sand, the researchers were able to significantly improve an ancient method such as that of water purification through sand, procedure still approved byWorld Health Organization.

    But, while normal sand reaches saturation after 10 minutes of filtering, the "super-grains" covered with graphite oxide, in addition to fivefold their capacity, are able to purify water effectively for up to 50 minutes, purifying it of mercury and dye molecules.

    After having managed to form around each grain a casing, which in turn turns out to have hydrophilic characteristics on the outside and hydrophobic on the inside, the researchers increased the ability to capture contaminants of water thanks to special molecules called tioli. Once the grains were modified, tests were carried out on a solution containing mercury (400 parts per million) and one containing a dye used in biology, Rhodamine B (10 parts per million). It was thus possible to discover that the properties of supersand are incomparably superior to those of grains alone.



    But that's just the first step: using different molecules, nanotechnology experts now hope to be able to engineer other "super-sand" fillings for specific contaminants, such as arsenic and tricloroetilene.

    Roberta Ragni

    Here the study in pdf

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