New miracle material poised to alleviate the global water and energy crisis

Sunday, November 03, 2013 by: Carolanne Wright
Tags: miracle material, global water supply, titanium dioxide

Posted by The Watcher on November 04, 2013 in categories Building a better world, Editors' picks, Energy, Sustainable living, Technology, Water crisis

Daunting observations made in the Population Institute report, "2030: The 'Perfect Storm' Scenario," clearly illustrate the dire need for innovative solutions concerning the pending worldwide energy and water crisis. According to Science Daily, "With the world's population expected to hit 8.3 billion by 2030, there will be a massive increase in the global demand for energy and food by 50 per cent and 30 per cent for drinking water."

Yet, scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have steadily worked over the last five years to create a seemingly miraculous material that produces hydrogen, creates clean water and can even generate energy - all at a very low cost in contrast to the current technology available.

Multitasking wonder

Called Multi-use Titanium Dioxide, the material is formed by creating nano fibers from titanium dioxide crystals, which are then used to construct a flexible membrane. Carbon, copper, zinc and tin are also utilized in fabrication, depending on the ultimate use of the material. Since titanium dioxide is abundant and inexpensive, Professor Sun of NTU's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering said that "such a low-cost and easily produced nanomaterials [are] expected to have immense potential to help tackle ongoing global challenges in energy and environmental issues," as reported by Science Daily.

As noted in Science Daily, the nanomaterial created from titanium dioxide can:

Produce clean water and hydrogen when exposed to sunlight

Remove salt from water at a high flux rate

Be made into a cost-effective, anti-fouling filtration membrane

Destroy harmful pathogens and be used as antibacterial bandages

Be made into economical solar cells for generating electricity

Double battery life when used in lithium ion batteries

During development, it was discovered that the membrane could act as a photocatalyst, transforming wastewater into oxygen and hydrogen when exposed to sunlight, while also producing clean water. Platinum is normally used for this water-splitting effect, but the precious metal is cost prohibitive and rare.

"As of now, we are achieving a very high efficiency of about three times more than if we had used platinum, but at a much lower cost, allowing for cheap hydrogen production. In addition, we can concurrently produce clean water for close-to-zero energy cost, which may change our current water reclamation system over the world for future livable cities," said Professor Sun.

"While there is no single silver bullet to solving two of the world's biggest challenges: cheap renewable energy and an abundant supply of clean water; our single multi-use membrane comes close, with its titanium dioxide nanoparticles being a key catalyst in discovering such solutions," observes Professor Sun. "With our unique nanomaterial, we hope to be able to help convert today's waste into tomorrow's resources, such as clean water and energy."

Sources:
http://www.sciyencedaily.com
http://pubs.rsc.org
http://www.sciencedirect.com
http://www.populationinstitute.org

Republished with permission from Natural News
Written by Carolanne Wright

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New miracle material poised to alleviate the global water and energy crisis

Multitasking wonder

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