Self-powered disinfection of Viruses and Bacteria in water using Oxidation-assisted electroporation and Tribo-Electric Nanogenerators (VIBO-TENG)

该提案将使经验丰富的申请人能够在巴斯大学进行世界领先的研究，融合材料，环境科学，微生物学，电化学，纳米技术和系统建模方面的知识。在世界范围内，三分之一的人无法获得可靠的清洁用水。消毒是消除水源致病菌、保证饮水安全的关键环节。然而，目前的水消毒方法存在一些缺点，如有害的消毒副产物和密集的能源/化学消耗。此外，当发生严重流行病（例如COVID-19）时，现有的消毒方法需要满足处理负荷的大量增加，并且可能无法提供安全的饮用水。纳米线辅助电穿孔是一种有效的微生物消毒方法，它利用纳米级尖端结构增强的强局部电场来破坏微生物的外部结构，已由申请人水消毒开发。由于电穿孔消毒的应用非常依赖于可用的电源，申请人将与uah主机（Bowen教授）合作开发第一个使用能量收集设备的自供电水消毒系统，以驱动新的氧化辅助电穿孔消毒机制。该项目将把申请人的知识，特别是他在环境生物技术、电化学和纳米技术方面的经验，转移到欧盟东道国。申请人将获得能量收集、设备设计和系统建模方面的新专业知识，以开发集成的自供电消毒设备。该奖学金将是申请人职业发展的关键一步，通过扩大他的研究和学术培训。这将通过一个重点培训计划和通过借调在欧盟范围内建立新的长期合作，以及与其他领先的能源收集和水科学研究所/行业建立联系来促进。

This proposal will enable an experienced applicant to undertake world-leading research at the University of Bath, merging knowledge from materials, environmental science, microbiology, electrochemistry, nanotechnology, and system modeling. Worldwide, one in three people do not have reliable access to clean water. Disinfection is a key step to remove waterborne pathogens and ensure drinking safety. However, current water disinfection methods have drawbacks, such as harmful disinfection byproducts and intensive energy/chemical consumption. In addition, when there is a severe epidemic (e.g., COVID-19), existing disinfection methods need to meet a large increase in treatment load and may fail to provide safe drinking water. Nanowire-assisted electroporation is an effective microbial disinfection method that utilizes a strong local electric field that is enhanced by a nano-scale tip structure to damage the outer structure of microbes and has been developed by the applicant water disinfection. Since the application of electroporation disinfection is strongly reliant on an available power supply, the applicant will work with the UBAH host (Prof. Bowen) to develop the first self-powered water disinfection system using energy harvesting devices to drive a new oxidation-assisted electroporation disinfection mechanism. This project will transfer the applicant's knowledge to the EU host, in particular his experience in environmental biotechnology, electrochemistry, and nanotechnology. The applicant will gain new expertise in energy harvesting, device design, and system modeling for developing integrated self-powered disinfection devices. This fellowship will be a key step in the applicant's career development, by expanding his research and academic training. This will be facilitated by a focused training plan and establishment of new long-term collaborations across the EU by secondments, and links with other leading energy harvesting and water science institutes/industries.