{"id":456139,"date":"2023-08-28T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T07:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=456139"},"modified":"2023-08-28T09:33:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T07:33:00","slug":"a-pioneering-project-to-turn-water-into-a-disinfectant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/a-pioneering-project-to-turn-water-into-a-disinfectant\/","title":{"rendered":"A pioneering project to turn water into a disinfectant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A student at Swiss science and technology institution EPFL&nbsp;is developing a cheap, robust,&nbsp;and portable device that can turn water into a disinfectant via the principle of plasma-activated water. The device could be a solution for disinfecting hospital equipment in developing countries.&nbsp;Investigations are also going into&nbsp;the possibility of sending&nbsp;the&nbsp;device into space, says EPFL in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/actu.epfl.ch\/news\/turning-ordinary-water-into-a-disinfectant\/\">press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"io-block io-block__summary\"><ul><li>EPFL student is developing a portable device for turning water into disinfectant, offering a solution for disinfecting medical equipment in developing nations.<\/li><li>The device, based on plasma-activated water, can potentially be used in space to prevent illnesses on future spacecraft and lunar bases.<\/li><li>The innovation combines plasma science and space exploration, with applications in hygiene, agriculture, and medical appliances.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Applications of plasma physics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A Master\u2019s student at EPFL,&nbsp;Constant Panisset, is working on a portable device&nbsp;that can turn ordinary water into a disinfectant in less than a minute.&nbsp;The project is being carried out&nbsp;at the Swiss Plasma Center in the laboratory of Ivo Furno, using the principle of plasma-activated water with the added complication that the device must work in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlasma-activated water has the potential to simplify the lives of many because it\u2019s easy to scale up,\u201d&nbsp;says Panisset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plasma physics is a vast field of research with already many applications, and at the outset, Panisset considered several options. \u201cFusion for energy production with a reactor is promising but not yet ready for industrial scales,\u201d explains Panisset. \u201cAerospace plasmas accidentally discharged from a satellite\u2019s solar panel can potentially destroy or decommission satellites. Plasmas are also used to propel rockets or satellites once in space.&nbsp;Plasmas are also used to etch smaller and more precise electronic components.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a passion for plasma physics, and also a keen interest in hands-on experience, Panisset is a member of the EPFL Rocket Team&nbsp;and&nbsp;he looked into the possibility of combining plasmas and space.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link advgb-dyn-e5ea56a6\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/revolutionary-plasma-based-technology-eliminates-harmful-pfas\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Revolutionary plasma-based technology eliminates harmful PFAS\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Revolutionary plasma-based technology eliminates harmful PFAS<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB has developed a plasma-based technology, AtWaPlas, to eliminate harmful PFAS chemicals found in soil, water, and everyday &hellip; <a href=\"\">Continued<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Creating&nbsp;plasma-activated water<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To make plasma-activated water, one first needs to make plasma, which essentially means taking a gas and ripping off the electrons from its particles to create ions. When this plasma is exposed to water, the acidity of the water increases while its composition changes so that water (H20) now contains new species like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitrites (NO2),&nbsp;and nitrates (NO3). Plasma-activated water is known to kill off bacteria and has applications in agriculture, medical appliances,&nbsp;and hygiene in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Engineering plasma-activated water for extreme conditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many ways to make activated water, and Panisset wanted to engineer the most robust way to do this, either for the medical community in developing countries or for being sent into space. He opted for a device that creates a strong potential across both air and water, placing one electrode in the air and another one in the water. But for making a small device that can work in space, he still has to optimize the dimensions,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the strength of the potential, and encase it all so that any accidental discharges are contained for safety reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEngineering plasma-activated water in microgravity is interesting because, if we can make it work, then with only water and a bit of electricity, it could prevent the propagation of illnesses on future spaceships or lunar bases like Artemis.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The device is also planned to be on board EPFL Rocket Team\u2019s Nordend Rocket which is scheduled to be launched in October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link advgb-dyn-74290358\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/purifying-water-with-biotech-the-role-of-funghi-in-aquatic-ecosystems\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Purifying water with biotech: the role of funghi in aquatic ecosystems\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Purifying water with biotech: the role of funghi in aquatic ecosystems<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">Nitrogen, mainly in the form of inorganic nitrite and nitrate, is one of the major material pollutants in freshwaters and human wastewater. Researchers from the &hellip; <a href=\"\">Continued<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A student at Swiss science and technology institution EPFL&nbsp;is developing a cheap, robust,&nbsp;and portable device that can turn water into a disinfectant via the principle of plasma-activated water. The device could be a solution for disinfecting hospital equipment in developing countries.&nbsp;Investigations are also going into&nbsp;the possibility of sending&nbsp;the&nbsp;device into space, says EPFL in a&nbsp;press release. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2591,"featured_media":494640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76370,42],"tags":[34155,484,31805],"location":[66582,52892],"article_type":[36684],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-456139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-sustainability-nl","tag-hygiene-en","tag-innovation","tag-physics","location-europe","location-switzerland","article_type-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"The device could be a solution for disinfecting hospital equipment in developing countries.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Shwet Parag","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/shwet-parag\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/rephile-water-cuqp2Jzz_lY-unsplash.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/science\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Science<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/sustainability-nl\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Science<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/sustainability-nl\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Hygiene<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/sustainability-nl\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">innovation<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/sustainability-nl\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">physics<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Hygiene<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">innovation<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">physics<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on August 28, 2023","modified":"Updated on August 28, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on August 28, 2023 9:33 am","modified":"Updated on August 28, 2023 9:33 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2591"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=456139"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=456139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}