I-Corps: Chlorine-Free Water Disinfection System

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是采用更好的水消毒方法。在上个世纪，氯消毒通过减少水传播疾病，如伤寒、霍乱和痢疾，改善了全世界发达国家的人类健康。最近，人们对氯对潜在有害消毒副产物（DBPs）的贡献进行了越来越多的审查。该项目开发了一种更容易获得、可持续和安全的饮用水消毒方法。拟议中的技术既节能又无氯，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）处理系统。该技术还可以集成到POU系统中，如水瓶、水龙头、桌面水罐、淋浴头，甚至游泳池。这种方法可以直接改造到现有的管道中，在整个分配系统中提供抗菌效果，同时还可以减少余氯。I-Corps的这个项目开发了一种无氯消毒技术，该技术协同利用局部增强的电场和铜的天然杀菌作用来杀死饮用水中的病原体。这种方法可以实现低铜剂量和低电能消耗的高微生物灭活。通过对同轴结构和/或纳米线修饰表面的电极施加低电压，其基础机制利用了避雷针效应。这种增强的电场不仅能够在接触时直接灭活病原体，而且还可以增加微生物铜摄取的细胞膜渗透性，从而更有效地灭活病原体。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.