A novel inorganic Ni-La2O3 composite with superfast and versatile water purification behavior

Yan Xing, Jing Cheng, Mengfei Zhang, Meng Zhao, Liyan Ye, Wei Pan*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Water-purifying materials are of vital importance for providing sanitary water, especially in epidemic and disaster areas and for wilderness survival. Here, we report a novel inorganic composite with a fast, reusable, and pleiotropic water purification ability. The composite of heterogeneous Ni-La2O3 nanofibers was developed using an easy, low-cost, and large-scale production process, i.e., an electrospinning technique. Because of the unique heterostructure formed by introducing nickel nanoparticles into the La2O3 host, the nanocomposite fibers can rapidly remove various detrimental micropollutants with absorption rate constants hundreds of times greater than those of inorganic materials and activated carbons. In addition, the nanocomposite can be recycled by a soft washing procedure at ambient temperature and demonstrates a much more stable performance than the state-of-the-art activated carbon materials. Furthermore, the nanofibers have an excellent germicidal effect against the high-risk human pathogen Escherichia coli. Our work introduces a promising inorganic absorbent suitable for purifying life-sustaining water supplies in emergency situations and alleviating worldwide water shortages.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)43723-43729
    JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
    Volume10
    Issue number50
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018

    Keywords

    • emerging contaminants removal
    • heterostructure
    • recovery
    • ultrafast absorption
    • water disinfection

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