Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




TECH SPACE
NTU scientist develops a multi-purpose wonder material to tackle environmental challenges
by Staff Writers
Singapore (SPX) Mar 24, 2013


illustration only

A new wonder material that can generate hydrogen, produce clean water and even create energy.

Science fiction? Hardly, and there's more - It can also desalinate water, be used as flexible water filtration membranes, help recover energy from desalination waste brine, be made into flexible solar cells and can also double the lifespan of lithium ion batteries. With its superior bacteria-killing capabilities, it can also be used to develop a new type of antibacterial bandage.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), led by Associate Professor Darren Sun have succeeded in developing a single, revolutionary nanomaterial that can do all the above and at very low cost compared to existing technology.

This breakthrough which has taken Prof Sun five years to develop is dubbed the Multi-use Titanium Dioxide (TiO2). It is formed by turning titanium dioxide crystals into patented nanofibres, which can then be easily fabricated into patented flexible filter membranes which include a combination of carbon, copper, zinc or tin, depending on the specific end product needed.

Titanium dioxide is a cheap and abundant material, which has been scientifically proven to have the ability to accelerate a chemical reaction (photocatalytic) and is also able to bond easily with water (hydrophilic).

More than 70 scientific papers on Prof Sun's work in titanium dioxide has been published in the last five years, the latest being papers published in Water Research, Energy and Environmental Science, and Journal of Materials Chemistry.

Prof Sun, 52, from NTU's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said such a low-cost and easily produced nanomaterial is expected to have immense potential to help tackle ongoing global challenges in energy and environmental issues.

With the world's population expected to hit 8.3 billion by 2030, there will be a massive increase in the global demand for energy and food by 50 per cent and 30 per cent for drinking water (Population Institute report, titled 2030: The "Perfect Storm" Scenario).

"While there is no single silver bullet to solving two of the world's biggest challenges: cheap renewable energy and an abundant supply of clean water; our single multi-use membrane comes close, with its titanium dioxide nanoparticles being a key catalyst in discovering such solutions," Prof Sun said. "With our unique nanomaterial, we hope to be able to help convert today's waste into tomorrow's resources, such as clean water and energy."

Prof Sun's multi-use titanium dioxide can:
+ concurrently produce both hydrogen and clean water when exposed to sunlight
+ be made into a low-cost flexible filtration membrane that is anti-fouling
+ desalinate water as a high flux forward osmosis membrane
+ recover energy from waste desalination brine and wastewater
+ be made into a low-cost flexible solar cell to generate electricity
+ doubles battery life when used as anode in lithium ion battery
+ kill harmful microbial, leading to new antibacterial bandages

How the wonder material was found
Prof Sun had initially used titanium dioxide with iron oxide to make anti-bacterial water filtration membranes to solve biofouling - bacterial growth which clogs up the pores of membranes, obstructing water flow.

While developing the membrane, Prof Sun's team also discovered that it could act as a photocatalyst, turning wastewater into hydrogen and oxygen under sunlight while still producing clean water. Such a water-splitting effect is usually caused by Platinum, a precious metal that is both expensive and rare.

"With such a discovery, it is possible to concurrently treat wastewater and yet have a much cheaper option of storing solar energy in the form of hydrogen so that it can be available any time, day or night, regardless of whether the sun is shining or not, which makes it truly a source of clean fuel," said Prof Sun.

"As of now, we are achieving a very high efficiency of about three times more than if we had used platinum, but at a much lower cost, allowing for cheap hydrogen production. In addition, we can concurrently produce clean water for close-to-zero energy cost, which may change our current water reclamation system over the world for future liveable cities."

Hydrogen is a clean fuel which can be used for automotive fuel-cells or in power plants to generate electricity.

Producing hydrogen and clean water

This discovery, which was published recently in the academic journal, Water Research, showed that a small amount of nanomaterial (0.5 grams of titanium dioxide nanofibres treated with copper oxide), can generate 1.53 millilitre of hydrogen in an hour when immersed in one litre of wastewater. This amount of hydrogen produced is three times more than when Platinum is used in the same situation.

Depending on the type of wastewater, the amount of hydrogen generated can be as much as 200 millilitres in an hour. Also to increase hydrogen production, more nanomaterial can be used in larger amounts of wastewater.

Producing low-cost flexible forward osmosis membranes
Not only can titanium dioxide particles help split water, it can also make water filter membranes hydrophilic - allowing water to flow through it easily, while rejecting foreign contaminants, including those of salt, making it perfect for desalinating water using forward osmosis. Thus a new super high flux (flow rate) forward osmosis membrane is developed.

This discovery was published recently in last month's journal of Energy and Environmental Science. This is the first such report of TiO2 nanofibres and particles used in forward osmosis membrane system for clean water production and energy generation.

Producing new antibacterial bandages
With its anti-microbial properties and low cost, the membrane can also be used to make breathable anti-bacterial bandages, which would not only prevent infections and tackle infection at open wounds, but also promote healing by allowing oxygen to permeate through the plaster.

The membrane's material properties are also similar to polymers used to make plastic bandages currently sold on the market.

Producing low-cost flexible solar cells
Prof Sun's research projects have shown out that when treated with other materials or made into another form such as crystals, titanium dioxide can have other uses, such as in solar cells.

By making a black titanium dioxide polycrystalline sheet, Prof Sun's team was able to make a flexible solar-cell which can generate electricity from the sun's rays.

Producing longer lasting lithium ion batteries
Concurrently, Prof Sun has another team working on developing the black titanium dioxide nanomaterial to be used in Lithium ion batteries commonly used in electronic devices.

Preliminary results from thin coin-like lithium ion batteries, have shown that when titanium dioxide sphere-like nanoparticles modified with carbon are used as the anode (negative pole), it can double the capacity of the battery. This gives such batteries a much longer lifespan before it is fully drained. The results were featured prominently in a highly respected Journal of Materials Chemistry on its cover page last year.

Next step - commercialisation
Prof Sun and his team of 20, which includes 6 undergraduates, 10 PhD students and 4 researchers, are now working to further develop the material while concurrently spinning off a start-up company to commercialise the product.

They are also looking to collaborate with commercial partners to speed up the commercialisation process.

.


Related Links
Nanyang Technological University
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TECH SPACE
Japan finds rich rare earth deposits on seabed: study
Tokyo (AFP) March 21, 2013
Japanese researchers said Thursday they have found a rich deposit of rare earths on the Pacific seabed, with reports suggesting it could be up to 30 times more concentrated than Chinese reserves. Mud samples taken from 5,800 metres (19,000 feet) below the waves contained highly concentrated amounts of the precious minerals, which are vital for high-tech manufacturing and used in products inc ... read more


TECH SPACE
NASA's LRO Sees GRAIL's Explosive Farewell

Amazon's Bezos recovers Apollo 11 engines

Leaping Lunar Dust

Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project Seeks Public Support To Retrieve Apollo Era Moon Images

TECH SPACE
Sun in the Way Will Affect Mars Missions in April

ChemCam data abundant at Planetary Conference

Los Alamos science sleuth on the trail of a Martian mystery

Curiosity Rover Exits 'Safe Mode'

TECH SPACE
Lockheed Martin to Continue Providing Life Sciences Support To NASA

U.S. Astronomers Call on Congress to Support R and D Investments

NASA Voyager Status Update on Voyager 1 Location

Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space

TECH SPACE
Shenzhou 10 - Next Stop: Jiuquan

China's fourth space launch center to be in use in two years

China to launch new manned spacecraft

Woman expected again to join next China crew roster

TECH SPACE
New Space Station Crew Members to Launch and Dock the Same Day

ESA seeks innovators for orbiting laboratory

New ISS crew prepares for launch

Space crew returns to Earth from ISS

TECH SPACE
Dragon capsule to spend extra day in space

Sea Launch and EchoStar Reach Preliminary Agreement for Launch Services

Estonia's student cubesat satellite is ready for the next Vega launch

Vega receives its upper stage as the next mission's two primary passengers land in French Guiana

TECH SPACE
Astronomers Detect Water in Atmosphere of Distant Planet

Distant planetary system is a super-sized solar system

Water signature in distant planet shows clues to its formation

The Great Exoplanet Debate

TECH SPACE
Record simulations conducted on Lawrence Livermore supercomputer

Breakthrough research shows chemical reaction in real time

Mainz scientists create new flexible mineral inspired by deep-sea sponges

NTU scientist develops a multi-purpose wonder material to tackle environmental challenges




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement