Solar-powered sterilization technology supported by Gates Foundation
Rice University nanotechnology researchers have unveiled a solar-powered sterilization system that could be a boon for more than 2.5 billion people who lack adequate sanitation. The “solar steam” sterilization system uses nanomaterials to convert as much as 80 percent of the energy in sunlight into germ-killing heat.
The technology is described online in a July 8 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. In the paper, researchers from Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) show two ways that solar steam can be used for sterilization — one setup to clean medical instruments and another to sanitize human waste.
“Sanitation and sterilization are enormous obstacles without reliable electricity,” said Rice photonics pioneer Naomi Halas, the director of LANP and lead researcher on the project, with senior co-author and Rice professor Peter Nordlander. “Solar steam’s efficiency at converting sunlight directly into steam opens up new possibilities for off-grid sterilization that simply aren’t available today.”
In a previous study last year, Halas and colleagues showed that “solar steam” was so effective at direct conversion of solar energy into heat that it could even produce steam from ice water.
“It makes steam directly from sunlight,” she said. “That means the steam forms immediately, even before the water boils.”
Halas, Rice’s Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, professor of physics, professor of chemistry and professor of biomedical engineering, is one of the world’s most-cited chemists. Her lab specializes in creating and studying light-activated particles. One of her creations, gold nanoshells, is the subject of several clinical trials for cancer treatment.
Solar steam’s efficiency comes from light-harvesting nanoparticles that were created at LANP by Rice graduate student Oara Neumann, the lead author on the PNAS study. Neumann created a version of nanoshells that converts a broad spectrum of sunlight — including both visible and invisible bandwidths — directly into heat. When submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the particles heat up so quickly they instantly vaporize water and create steam. The technology has an overall energy efficiency of 24 percent. Photovoltaic solar panels, by comparison, typically have an overall energy efficiency of around 15 percent.
When used in the autoclaves in the tests, the heat and pressure created by the steam were sufficient to kill not just living microbes but also spores and viruses. The solar steam autoclave was designed by Rice undergraduates at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen and refined by Neumann and colleagues at LANP. In the PNAS study, standard tests for sterilization showed the solar steam autoclave could kill even the most heat-resistant microbes.
The Latest Bing News on:
World Wide Web
- Top 10 most visited websites in the world in March 2024on April 17, 2024 at 9:23 pm
Ready to uncover the internet favourites? From Google to WhatsApp, let's explore the most visited websites worldwide ...
- Best Web Browsers For Protecting User Privacyon April 17, 2024 at 6:31 am
Explore the best browsers for safeguarding your online security and unravel the significance of private browsers and VPNs.
- Learn about the world’s smallest park on the world’s smallest websiteon April 16, 2024 at 3:43 pm
The smallest park in the world now has a cleverly small website to celebrate it, and that site could get some big recognition. Portland’s Mill Ends Park is in a traffic median on Southwest Naito ...
- Social Media Is Not What Killed the Webon March 25, 2024 at 6:14 am
The site houses an emulator that connects to the Internet Archive’s record of websites, providing a full computing experience of the World Wide Web of three decades ago. That experience was the ...
- World Wide Web of Spiderson March 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Explore them here. Can trust bring connection and hope in a divided world? Discover how through global news stories. The Russian presidential election finishes this weekend. No, it will not be a ...
- The Internet gives rise to the World Wide Webon November 27, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Over the next year or two, the proposal was circulated and revised, resulting in an initial program being developed that was dubbed the World Wide Web. At least one expert has called the Web a ...
- The World Wide Web: Past, Present And Futureon October 26, 2023 at 11:10 am
The seeds of the Web were planted much earlier than 1991. Amazingly, a very early version of the World Wide Web was floating around in at least one person's head way back during World War II.
- World Wide Web code that changed the world up for auction as NFTon June 15, 2021 at 12:15 pm
LONDON: The original source code for the World Wide Web that was written by its inventor Tim Berners-Lee is up for sale at Sotheby’s as part of a non-fungible token, with bids starting at just ...
- The World Wide Webon June 26, 2017 at 7:15 am
Berners-Lee's vision of a global web of linked information was soon dubbed the World Wide Web. In 1992, Berners Lee designed a World Wide Web browser and distributed it for free. In November of ...
- World Wide Web Definitionon December 14, 2016 at 2:17 am
World Wide Web is the vast amount of computers, that are acting as web servers, which use the protocol HTTP to transfer documents to a user's computer to be viewed with a web browser. The ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
World Wide Web
[google_news title=”” keyword=”World Wide Web” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Fix the internet
- Dating culture has become selfish. How do we fix it?on April 18, 2024 at 5:09 am
Social media is packed with stories of unbelievably selfish dating behaviour. Here’s what’s going on and how to undo it.
- How to Fix Google Maps When It's Not Workingon April 17, 2024 at 6:11 pm
Go to the Google Maps Status Dashboard to check for any service outages. If services are down, the issue likely lies with the backend. If all services are operational, the problem could be on your end ...
- Terry Savage: Warning on credit repair and chasing rewardson April 17, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Even the zero-interest period on balance transfer cards can get you deeper into trouble. If you don’t pay off the balances within the zero-rate period, you can expect your finance charge to soar ...
- How Humane can fix the Ai Pin (before it's too late)on April 17, 2024 at 1:29 pm
The innovative wearable assistant is getting slammed for performance and usability fails. Here are the improvements Humane needs to make before the likes of Apple, Amazon, and Google eat its lunch.
- Still facing call and text issues on your Pixel phone? Try this temporary fixon April 17, 2024 at 7:52 am
In the absence of any solution from Google, users have found out that disabling 5G and certain other settings helps fix Pixel network issues.
- Android Notifications Not Showing Up? Here’s How to Fixon April 16, 2024 at 6:24 pm
Do Not Disturb mode, when enabled, restricts notifications when it’s turned on, whereas Airplane Mode turns off data which could stop apps from sending you notifications. To turn off DND mode, go to ...
- $90 Billion vs. the Digital Divide: Is It Enough to Fix Internet Access in the US?on April 13, 2024 at 5:00 am
Congress approved a colossal sum of money that they believe will be enough to connect Americans left out of the modern digital world.
- “Fix It”: 40 Times People Had No Clue How To “Fix It,” But The Internet Had Their Backon April 10, 2024 at 3:50 am
People post pictures of the things that they need help with and the members of this online community provide them with clear instructions on how to take care of the issue. The post “Fix It”: 40 Times ...
- The billionaire looking to fix the 'broken' interneton April 8, 2024 at 8:52 pm
The internet is broken. Big tech companies mine data about us and tweak algorithms that can often result in the spread of misinformation, cyberbullying and social division. Billionaire American ...
- Why Does My Internet Keep Disconnecting? 5 Ways To Fix Iton March 25, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Let’s take a look at the top five reasons why your internet keeps disconnecting and how you can fix it. Table of Contents A reliable internet connection is essential for day-to-day life ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Fix the internet
[google_news title=”” keyword=”fix the internet” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]