Self-Powered Disinfection Using Triboelectric, Conductive Wires of Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Huo, Zheng-Yang; Yang, Yuxin; Jeong, Jang-Mook; Wang, Xiaoxiong; Zhang, He; Wei, Mingdeng; Dai, Keren; Xiong, Peixun et al. · Nano Lett · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Efficient water disinfection is vitally needed in rural and disaster-stricken areas lacking power supplies. However, conventional water disinfection methods strongly rely on external chemical input and reliable electricity. Herein, we present a self-powered water disinfection system using synergistic hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) assisted electroporation mechanisms driven by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that harvest electricity from the flow of water. The flow-driven TENG, assisted by power management systems, generates a controlled output with aimed voltages to drive a conductive metal-organic framework nanowire array for effective H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> generation and electroporation. The injured bacteria caused by electroporation can be further damaged by facile diffused H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> molecules at high throughput. A self-powered disinfection prototype enables complete disinfection (>99.9999% removal) over a wide range of flows up to 3.0 × 10<sup>4</sup> L/(m<sup>2</sup> h) with low water flow thresholds (200 mL/min; ∼20 rpm). This rapid, self-powered water disinfection method is promising for pathogen control.