Electrified nano filter kills up to 98pc of bacteria in water in seconds

WASHINGTON - Scientists have developed a new, inexpensive filtering technology that kills up to 98 percent of disease-causing bacteria in water in seconds without clogging.

Researcher Yi Cui and colleagues explained that most water purifiers work by trapping bacteria in tiny pores of filter material and pushing water through those filters requires electric pumps and consumes a lot of energy.

In addition, the filters can get clogged and must be changed periodically.

The new material, in contrast, has relatively huge pores, which allows water to flow through easily and it kills bacteria outright, rather than just trapping them.

Tests of the material on E. coli-tainted water showed that the silver/electrified cotton killed up to 98 percent of the bacteria.

The filter material never clogged, and the water flowed through it very quickly without any need for a pump.

“Such technology could dramatically lower the cost of a wide array of filtration technologies for water as well as food, air, and pharmaceuticals where the need to frequently replace filters is a large cost and difficult challenge,” stated the report.

The findings appeared in Nano Letters, a monthly American Chemical Society journal. (ANI)