A rash of storms in Texas in recent years — from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to the deep freeze in 2021 — has put big chunks of the population in danger and left millions without electricity or ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 for long periods.
These calamities also served as motivation for a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin to refocus her work on innovations that can help communities respond to severe weather events. Her latest project is a mug-sized device that can quickly clean ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 using a small jolt of electricity to fish out bacterial cells. In lab experiments, the device was able to remove 99.997% of E. coli bacteria from 2- to 3-ounce samples taken from Waller Creek in Austin in approximately 20 minutes, with the capacity to do more.
"We are able to clean water using very little energy because we steer the bacterial cells with electric fields, and most bacterial cells are natural swimmers who propel themselves to electrodes and got captured alive," said D. Emma Fan, an associate professor in the ラーメンベット 禁止ゲーム of Engineering's Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, who led the ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 published recently in ACS Nano.
The key to the device is a "branched" electrode that the ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 team previously created. The patented electrode's structure is based on a root system in a tree with branches traveling in several directions.
When electrified, the ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 creates a field that the E. coli cells are attracted to. They willingly "swim" into the electrode branches.
The electrode is made of graphite foam, compatible and durable in electric fields, and ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 continuously work for many hours. In addition to its efficiency, the device is inexpensive — it costs less than to create the foam-encased electrode.
It also is simple to use. First, dip the electrode-filled cup into ラーメンベット 入金反映時間. Next, give it an electrical jolt, wait, and let the electrodes fish out bacteria. Then, wait and remove the ラーメンベット 入金反映時間, which is now drinkable.
The researchers are now looking into ways to commercialize it and next want to streamline the design of the cup. The one used to clean ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 from Waller Creek is a 3D-printed prototype. And they want to further simplify the process of inserting and removing the electrodes.
Of the several different current methods for simple, commercial ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 filtration, each has a significant flaw. Disinfecting pills can release oxidants that can be harmful if ingested. Reverse osmosis systems require high ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 pressure, and solar steaming needs consistent sunlight, which is unreliable amid natural disasters.
Furthermore, the use of electrical power allows integration with batteries for stored energies and ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 be easily used at home, in the office, or in a car. The energy cost is also much less than those of various emerging technologies, e.g., a thousandth as much as that for solar steaming.
The electrode used in the device was originally created for supercapacitors. Estimates that Texas’ population would double by 2050 and the need for ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 to address resilience after Harvey motivated Fan to focus her work on natural disasters.
In the case of a power outage or a boil-ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 notice, a person who owned a device with this technology could drive to a creek or a stream, hook it up to the car battery through a simple DC-AC converter, and purify ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 to bring home as a drinking supply. It can also be powered using solar panels with the same principle.
"When our ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 infrastructure is down — no ラーメンベット 入金反映時間, no gas and no electricity — we need point-of-use devices for cleaning ラーメンベット 入金反映時間 we can get out of ponds, streams or rivers," Fan said. "We believe our device can someday fill that need."
