A laser-created aluminum black panel can purify water containing human waste and heavy metals in accordance with consumer standards set by the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water , using only sunlight as a source of energy.
2 hours for 5 milliliters
Chunlei Guo and colleagues at the University of Rochester in New York They conceived the panel using short pulse lasers to alter the surface of a 3 centimeter square aluminum sheet. They created rows of microscopic tube-shaped grooves in the metal and also small nanoscale protrusions.
The resulting sheet has a black appearance and attracts water. According to Guo:
If I stand a sample [of the aluminum] vertically and put a drop of water at the bottom of the sample, the water will flow uphill against gravity.
When one end of the panel is placed in dirty water, it draws a thin layer of water upward, which evaporates in the sun, purifying it. By placing the panel inside a glass box, the team collected the evaporated water for use, separating it from the dirty water with a layer of insulation.
It took 2 hours to obtain about 5 milliliters of purified water, so researchers would like to expand the process to purify larger volumes of water. They also aim to improve the efficiency of the method by producing double-sided panels.
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The news
This laser-sculpted aluminum purifies water using sunlight
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.