Green Ultrafiltration Water Cleaning Technologies
Clean water is a key challenge in the 21st century, articulated in the UN sustainable development goal (UN SDG 6). In close collaboration with industry and stakeholders, this project aims at developing new types of sustainable water treatment techniques that are, cheap, easy to maintain and can be applied in settings/countries where clean water is a challenge.
By using non-critical and non-toxic materials to eliminate contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), the project aims to avoid their further spread in a safe and sustainable way. We will develop a water cleaning concept, amenable for decentralized use, that will be validated on a small pilot scale comprising a series of modules:
- an enzymatic step including nanoporous materials bearing enzymes and chelating functions to retain hazardous metals,
- enzyme-mimetic nanomaterials,
- nanoporous adsorbents, and finally
- a photocatalytic step that ensures zero discharge of contaminants.
Laboratory-scale research will be implemented in reactor modules in collaboration with industrial partners. The evaluation of different combinations of modules will be an integral part of the project. Industrial partners will provide engineering solutions that allow the testing of new materials/technologies. Associated partners will evaluate the technology and disseminate results, to various industries as well as stakeholders in the developing world.
Expected research results
- Development of new enzymatic water cleaning techniques, new nano adsorbent materials, new photocatalytic materials
- Development of a new modular purification platform of nanomaterial-based technologies
- Raising awareness of new ultrafiltration technologies and need to clean water from CECs and ARBs
- Innovation-based industrial growth
Project coordinator: Lars ÖSTERLUND, Uppsala University (UU) - Sweden
Communication contact:
Marcus GRÜNERWALD - marcus.grunerwald(at)nanoformscience.se
Lars ÖSTERLUND - lars.osterlund(at)angstrom.uu.se
Partners:
Prof. Gulaim Seisenbaeva, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Molecular Sciences (SLU), Sweden
Dr Jiří Henych, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IIC), Czech Republic
Dr Chantal Guillard, CNRS/IRCELYON (IRCELYON), France
Prof. Stephane Parola, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENSL), France
Prof. Pavel Janoš, University of J.E. Purkyne (UJEP), Czech Republic