CBU prof says he’s developed device that cheaply cleans waste water | CBC News
effluent and running it past electrodes that remove the pollutants, said
Zhang.
“Actually, it’s more like just burning molecules, but
it’s very difficult, or it’s very expensive, to make a device to burn
some organic pollutant molecules in water,” he said.
The
catalyst is non-toxic and it takes itself out after the process is
complete, leaving behind a salty solution that is similar to seawater,
Zhang said.
The university recently issued a tender for a consultant to determine the best way to commercialize the technology.
Zhang
said that could mean selling the invention to a business that would
then contract it out to customers, or it could mean starting a company
and licensing the technology to industrial users.
The device
could be used to remove heavy metals such as arsenic or cadmium and
other toxic chemicals like dioxins, as well as pesticides or
pharmaceuticals, he said.