![]() The study, recently published in the journal Matter, found that the key to the dye degradation and self-sensitization process was the ability of the material to generate electron holes and something called "ROS" - hydroxyl, superoxide and singlet oxygen, radicals, as well as electron "holes." This process accelerates degradation, allowing the dye to break apart into harmless byproducts such as carbon dioxide and water. The dye sensitizes the nanofilaments to visible light. The process starts with adsorption, where the dye adheres to the surface of the nanofilament, and once illuminated undergoes photocatalysis. "We anticipate that integrating our titanium-oxide photocatalyst into the current processes could improve its effectiveness in removing these chemicals, as well as reducing the amount of energy required to do so." "This is an exciting finding because it helps to address a problem that has been a real challenge for the water treatment process," Barsoum said. ![]() The material also reduced those dye concentrations in the water by 90% and 64%, respectively, in just 30 minutes, when the starting catalyst to dye mass ratio was 1 to 1. It's a major concern for wastewater treatment-but researchers in Drexel University's College of Engineering may have found a solution, using a tiny nanofilament.Ī study lead Michel Barsoum, Ph.D., Distinguished University professor in the College of Engineering, and his team, including researchers from Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, found that a one-dimensional, lepidocrocite structured titanium oxide photocatalyst material has the ability to break down two common dye pollutants - rhodamine 6G and crystal violet - under the visible light spectrum. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.Discharged in large quantities by textile, cosmetic, ink, paper and other manufacturers, dyes carry high-toxicity and can bring potential carcinogens to wastewater. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. Watch the full clip to find out where these chemicals come from and why they are so lethal.įollow BritLab's YouTube channel and join 700,000+ Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram. One lethal chemical – cardiac glycoside digoxin – can be found in a common garden flower, while the deadliest can be seen in many hospitals just 2kg would be enough to wipe out the whole of the human race. Often these poisons are alarmingly close to home. The writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston suggested that voodoo witch doctors may have used near-lethal doses of TTX to induce a kind of death-like coma, followed by a zombie-like trance, although scientific evidence fails to support the theory. “You’ll no longer be able to speak, swallow, seizures will begin and your body will slowly shut down – all while you are completely lucid but unable to move.” Death comes after six hours of symptoms and there is no antidote. “Your lips and tongue will begin to burn, your mouth will erupt with saliva and you’ll get very sweaty,” Burgess explains. It sounds horrific – but arsenic is positively innocuous compared to the other substances that Burgess profiles.Ĭonsider tetrodotoxin (TTX), a poison found in puffer fish and blue-ringed octopuses that leaves you paralysed as your body goes through some agonising reactions. The first sign is a metallic taste in your mouth, followed by vomiting and seizures, and death. George III of England, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Gaungxu Emperor of China are all thought to have died from its effects – either from a deliberate assassination or accidental exposure.Īs Dominic Burgess from BritLab explains in the video above, just 200 milligrams– around the weight of a raindrop – is enough to kill someone within two hours. ![]() When we think of deadly poisons, most of our minds will jump instantly to arsenic.
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