EAPSI: Disinfection Properties of Visible Light Active Iron-containing Silicate Glass

为了解决当前全球水质和可持续性问题，必须开发新的环境友好型水消毒技术。目前，通常用于消毒废水的化学物质，如氯，可以与水中的其他分子反应，产生潜在有害的消毒副产物（DBPs）。使用紫外线（UV）光和半导体材料的新技术可能是化学消毒的无副产品替代品，以灭活致病菌。然而，太阳光的紫外线辐射不足5%，而且人造的紫外线源使得紫外线技术的成本很高。本项目将测试可见光活性含铁硅酸盐玻璃的消毒能力。这项研究将与日本东京城市大学（TMU）的Shiro Kubuki博士合作进行，他已经开发出一种含铁的硅酸盐玻璃，可以很容易地被可见光激活。这种特殊类型的玻璃可以从回收玻璃瓶中制备，并且使用可见光而不是紫外线，使其成为一种具有成本效益，无副产品的化学消毒替代品。虽然已经确定一些半导体，如二氧化钛（TiO2），可以有效地灭活致病菌，但它们需要紫外线（UV）光才能有效。本项目将采用可见光活性含铁硅酸盐玻璃。我们的假设涉及使用由回收材料制成的含铁硅酸盐玻璃来消除病原微生物，而不需要氯消毒剂产生的有害副产品，也不需要昂贵和漫长的紫外线处理。本研究的目的是：a)测试含铁硅酸盐玻璃通过可见光诱导的光催化反应有效灭活致病性指示生物（大肠杆菌）的能力，以及(b)探索使用含铁硅酸盐玻璃作为可负担得起的“绿色”催化剂用于水消毒目的的潜力。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）和日本科学促进会（Japan Society for the Promotion of Science）共同资助，隶属于东亚与太平洋暑期学院项目，为一名美国研究生提供支持。

In order to address current issues in global water quality and sustainability, new environmentally friendly water disinfection technologies must be developed. Currently, chemicals commonly used to disinfect wastewater, such as chlorine, can react with other molecules in the water to create potentially harmful disinfection byproducts (DBPs). New technologies using ultraviolet (UV) light and semiconducting materials may be a byproduct-free alternative to chemical disinfection to inactivate pathogenic bacteria. However, solar light has less than 5% UV light radiation and artificial source of UV-light makes UV technology expensive. This project will test the disinfecting capabilities of visible light active iron-containing silicate glass. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Shiro Kubuki, of Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU) in Tokyo, Japan, who has developed an iron-containing silicate glass that can be easily activated by visible light. This specific type of glass can be prepared from recycled glass bottles, and uses visible light, rather than UV-light, making it a cost-effective, byproduct-free alternative to chemical disinfection. Although it has been established that some semiconductors, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), can effectively inactivate pathogenic bacteria, they require ultra-violet (UV) light to be effective. In this project, visible light active and iron-containing silicate glass will be used. Our hypothesis involves the use of iron-containing silicate glass made from recycled materials to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms without the harmful by-products produced by chlorine disinfectants and without the need for expensive and lengthy UV-light treatments. This study aims to: a) test the capability of iron-containing silicate glass to effectively inactivate pathogenic indicator organisms (Escherichia coli) by visible light-induced photocatalytic reaction and (b) explore the potential of using iron-containing silicate glass as an affordable "green" catalyst for water disinfection purposes.This award is under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program support for a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.