I-Corps: Chlorine-Free Water Disinfection System

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使更好的水消毒方法成为可能。上个世纪，氯消毒通过减少伤寒、霍乱和痢疾等水传播疾病，改善了世界各地发达国家的人类健康。最近，对氯对潜在有害消毒副产品(DBPs)的贡献进行了更严格的审查。该项目开发了一种更容易获得、更可持续和更安全的饮用水消毒方法。这项拟议的技术既节能又不含氯，可用于露营或徒步旅行等短期户外活动，地震或飓风等灾害后的应急响应，以及医院、偏远地区和发展中社区的使用点(POU)治疗系统。这项技术还可以集成到POU系统中，如水瓶、水龙头、桌面水壶、淋浴喷头，甚至游泳池。这种方法有可能直接改装到现有管道中，在整个分配系统中提供抗菌效益，同时减少残留的氯。这个i-Corps项目开发了一种无氯消毒技术，它协同使用局部增强的电场和铜的自然生物杀灭作用来杀灭饮用水中的病原体。这种方法能够以低铜剂量和低电能消耗实现高微生物灭活。支撑机制通过向具有同轴结构和/或纳米线修饰表面的电极施加低电压来利用避雷针效应。这种增强的电场不仅能够在接触时直接灭活病原体，而且能够增加细胞膜对微生物铜吸收的渗透性，从而实现更有效的灭活。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to enable better approaches for water disinfection. For the last century, chlorine disinfection has improved human health in developed nations worldwide by reducing waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. More recently, there has been increased scrutiny on chlorine's contribution to potentially harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs). This project develops a more accessible, sustainable, and safe method to disinfect drinking water. The proposed technology is both energy-efficient and chlorine-free, and can be used for short-term outdoor activities like camping or hiking, emergency response after disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes, as well as point-of-use (POU) treatment systems for hospitals, remote areas, and developing communities. The technology can also be integrated into POU systems like water bottles, faucets, tabletop pitchers, shower heads, and even swimming pools. The approach can be potentially retrofitted directly into existing pipelines to provide antimicrobial benefits over the entire distribution system while also reducing the residual chlorine.This I-Corps project develops a chlorine-free disinfection technology that synergistically uses a locally-enhanced electric field and the natural biocidal effects of copper to kill pathogens in drinking water. This approach enables high microbial inactivation with low copper doses and low electrical energy consumption. The underpinning mechanism exploits the lightning rod effect by applying a low voltage to electrodes with coaxial configurations and/or nanowire-modified surfaces. This enhanced electric field is capable of not only inactivating pathogens directly upon contact but also increasing the permeability of cell membranes for microbial copper uptake, resulting in more effective inactivation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.