Novel Photocatalytic Fullerenes for Water & Wastewater Treatment & Disinfection

Challenge Buckminsterfullerenes (C60) are known to be powerful photocatalysts but their low solubility in water presents a significant challenge in environmental and biomedical applications involving aqueous media. Solution Functionalizing C60 with hydrophilic moieties was found to produce a new class of materials with exceptional activity as photocatalytic disinfectants capable of inactivating pathogenic microorganisms and enhancing the oxidation of organic pollutants. Benefits and Features Exhibit significantly higher photo-induced antibacterial and antiviral activity than other commercially available nanomaterials Enhances oxidative processes which destroy a wide variety of common organic pollutants including carcinogens and endocrine disruptors simultaneously with disinfection Immobilized catalyst for facile recovery and recycleNo harmful by-products generated Can be used to enhance waste-water treatment in UV and solar disinfection reactors and in advanced oxidation process reactors Market Potential / Applications Water and waste-water treatment Potential applications in air purification Potential in antifouling or anticorrosion coatings Potential in functionalizing membranes used for separation processes in food or beer industry to make them easier to cleanDevelopments and Licensing Status This technology is available for license from Rice University.