University of Queensland research is developing a new class of efficient photocatalysts that can drive wastewater purification using the power of the sun.
Dr Lianzhou Wang, from UQ’s School of Engineering, has been awarded a $75,000 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award.
The UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards have been run for 10 years and are an initiative of UQ to recognise outstanding performance and leadership potential in early career researchers.
Dr Wang said with increasing water shortages predicted due to climate change and population growth, better use of our limited supplies was crucial.
“Many industries consume large amounts of clean water and end up with wastewater streams that are only slightly contaminated,” Dr Wang said.
“This type of water has huge potential to be reused after proper and simple retreatment.
“Conventional treatment has high energy and operating costs, but our process is driven by the sun.”
He said by using nanotechnology he and his colleagues have been able to produce titanium dioxide based nanomaterials that can be used as sunlight driven purifiers.
“While titanium dioxide based solar cells can be used to generate electricity, that same materials with appropriate modifications can be used to degrade organic pollutants and remove them from water,” he said.
“And the key part is this could happen in the industrial process, which will result in significant reduction in industry water use and savings to our precious water resources.”
Dr Wang, who worked with Federation Fellow Professor Max Lu at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology, is establishing a new state-of-the-art lab within the School of Engineering.
The new facilities will establish an integrated fabrication and testing facility that will enable the assembly, characterisation and performance evaluation of solar energy materials.
Media: Dr Lianzhou Wang (07 3365 4218 or 0432535805) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802 or 0433 364 181).
