Pollution-busting materials created
Air and water pollution are a serious threat to the future health of the planet and its inhabitants. Developing cost-effective and safe materials and methods to clean air and water is a priority for EU researchers. The EU-funded LIMPID (Nanocomposite materials for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants) initiative developed nano-structured materials that use sunlight to degrade pollutants. These materials, known as photocatalysts, may be incorporated into polymers, membranes and beads as new tools to remove pollutants from air and water. Nanomaterials containing the photocatalyst titanium dioxide are already widely used to break down organic pollutants like alcohols and phenols into harmless compounds. However, LIMPID wanted to increase their scope and efficiency by including different types of photocatalytic nanoparticles within one material. These innovative materials, which are activated by both ultraviolet and visible light, can then be formed into self-cleaning coatings, photocatalytic membrane reactors or bactericidal films. Since photocatalytic nanoparticles can destroy the organic matrix in which they are embedded, LIMPID used fluorinated and organic-inorganic hybrid polymers as new smart host materials. Once nanoparticles are dispersed within these polymers, they cannot leach into the water or air, limiting their potential to contaminate the environment. After preparing a range of nanocomposite materials, researchers assessed how well they worked compared with standard purification techniques. Their tests showed that the nanomaterials' unique properties will be most useful in instances where other, cheaper purification strategies have not worked. For example, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and endocrine disrupting chemicals are particularly difficult to remove from wastewater. In these cases, LIMPID's new photocatalytic nanocomposite materials could be used to completely remove any remaining toxins after the initial wastewater treatment. LIMPID's nanocatalysts can be immobilised on substrates like metals, tiles and glass, making them suitable for a range of depolluting applications. These include coatings for building facades that remove pollutants from the air and textiles that inactivate bacteria like Escherichia coli.
Keywords
Pollution, pollutants, polymers, LIMPID, nanocomposite, photocatalysts
