The process of purifying contaminated water known as water remediation can be powered entirely by solar power.
Solar energy can help purify water contaminated by industry
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Solar energy is increasingly important in the transition away from fossil fuels and a team of scientists has just found a new use for it.
Chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have shown that the process of purifying contaminated water known as water remediation can be powered entirely by solar power.
The scientists have created a method for integrating solar energy into an electrochemical separation process powered by a redox reaction, which manipulates ions’ electric charge to separate them from a solution like water. Through it, they separated and removed dilute arsenate from wastewater.
Arsenate is a derivative of arsenic, which is a major waste component from the steel and mining industries, and removing it from waste water can help reduce pollution from these sectors.
Redox-mediated electrosorption is a promising platform for selective electrochemical separations as a result of its molecular selectivity, high uptake, and tunability for target ions, they note. However, the electrical energy required for it is still mainly generated by non-renewable energy sources, “which limits its sustainability and overall impact to decarbonization,” the scientists explain in their paper.
To solve that problem, they relied on a redox-mediated photoelectrochemical separation process using polyvinyl ferrocene functionalized TiO2 nanorod electrodes, which integrates direct solar energy as a driver for the selective electrosorption.
“Global electrical energy is still predominantly derived from nonrenewable, fossil-fuel-based sources, which raises questions about the long-term sustainability of electrochemical processes, including separations,” says Xiao Su, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who led the research.
“Integrating solar power advances the sustainability of electrochemical separations in general, and its applications to water purification benefit the water sector as well,” the researcher adds.
