Clean water, besides being a basic human right, is an essential need for all of us. Despite this, clean water is becoming scarcer than ever due to the rise in population and pollution. Current water-purification methods can be expensive or not fully efficient. This is why we should focus on finding ways to give easy and affordable access to clean water to as many people as possible. What we seek to do is to create a high surface-area nanofoam that is free of petrochemicals. To build the core of the foam, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles are carbonized along with glucose in a furnace. Zinc oxide nanoparticles are then removed, leaving a high surface area nanoporous carbon foam with titanium dioxide nanoparticles. This super-hydrophobic nanofoam is expected to have the ability to trap organic pollutants such as polycyclic carbons, fluorocarbons, and aromatics, among others. Furthermore, titanium dioxide nanoparticles are going to enable the regeneration of our nanofoam material by creating reactive oxygen species when exposed to UV-light. Tests were performed against pharmaceuticals such as Tetracycline, Amoxicillin, Oflaxin, as well as organic pollutants such as Naphtol, Naphtalene, and Bisphenol A. The characterization of the material includes XRD, TEM, BET, and EDS analysis. With this organic nanofoam it will be possible to produce drinking water with a small amount of material capable of cleaning more water than the average activated carbon filter.

Nanoparticle-templated synthesis of porous carbon for the removal of organic pollutants from water

255th National Meeting (2018)

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