Despite undeniable progress since 1990, made by governments, NGOs with the support of the United Nations, more than 2 billion people currently do not have access to drinking water. Ninety percent of these people live mainly in rural or remote areas, but the problem would soon be unprecedented, according to climate experts. Water in the Sustainable Development Goals But the important thing is to provide clean water to everyone on this earth through advanced solutions. This is possible due to the use of Graphene filters because of their high capability. Use of Graphene for treating water
The Graphene nanoscrolls that MIT researchers have managed to develop could be used to produce, among other things, water filtration systems that are both effective and targeted. The exceptional physical and chemical properties of graphene gave researchers the idea of using this material for the design of water purification membranes. Not only to chemically remove pollutants but also to extract them physically. And these billions of graphene nanoscrolls stacked in layers and able to capture pollutants selectively. This process produces very pure water, without unpleasant taste or bad smell.
Graphene nanoscrolls
Graphene is considered a miracle material, especially in the electronics industry. Unfortunately, the exceptional properties that researchers have already discovered are very complicated and costly to implement. It is about the price issue that US researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University are interested in graphene oxide. Due to this, it is difficult to maintain the purity of graphene and implement it at the industrial level, therefore, it requires more research in order to use it in real life. Researchers at MIT and Harvard University are exploiting the oxidized form, imperfect as soiled with atoms of oxygen and hydrogen, but cheaper than the pure material. From graphene oxide and using ultrasonic techniques, they produced nanoscrolls of controllable dimensions. Nanoscrolls are developed with the same mechanical properties as of graphene for only a fraction of its cost.
The idea of using graphene nanoballs is not new but, as we said, the technique is too expensive to be exploited industrially. Researchers had also tried to produce graphene oxide nanoscrolls. The US researchers first implemented a chemical process called the Hummer method to produce graphene oxide sheets from graphite chips. After putting into solution, these sheets of graphene oxide were then simulated using two different ultrasonic methods for the same result: the spontaneous formation of nanoscrolls.
Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have used piezoelectric probes that, when energized and placed in a solution, create sound waves at either a frequency of about 20 Hz or a frequency of about 390 Hz. Waves that stir the environment and create bubbles. When these bubbles explode, they release sufficient energy to initiate the formation of conical nanoscrolls from graphene oxide sheets. And the results of US researchers show that a higher frequency and a shorter treatment can produce larger nanoscrolls and vice versa.
For now, only 10% of the sheets have been converted into nanoscrolls. Researchers at MIT and Harvard University, however, ensure that their technique can be improved to achieve better yields. It can then be included in existing industrial processes, for the production of water filtration membranes.
https://nanografi.com/blog/use-of-graphene-in-water-filtration/
Big $$$$ in water treatment. Doesn't one of the Quebec junior graphite Co's have a Saudi CEO ?
First thing that came to mind ?
Graphite / Carbon / Graphene
Middle East ( Ocean, Sea ) water treatment.