Liu Jinwei, Cheng Shihan, Cao Na, Geng Chunxiang, He Chen, Shi Quan, Xu Chunming, Ni Jinren, DuChanois Ryan M, Elimelech Menachem, Zhao Huazhang
Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2019 Jan;14(1):64-71. doi: 10.1038/s41565-018-0307-8. Epub 2018 Nov 26.
Current technologies for water purification are limited by their contaminant-specific removal capability, requiring multiple processes to meet water quality objectives. Here we show an innovative biomimetic micellar nanocoagulant that imitates the structure of Actinia, a marine predator that uses its tentacles to ensnare food, for the removal of an array of water contaminants with a single treatment step. The Actinia-like micellar nanocoagulant has a core-shell structure and readily disperses in water while maintaining a high stability against aggregation. To achieve effective coagulation, the nanocoagulant everts its configuration, similar to Actinia. The shell hydrolyses into 'flocs' and destabilizes and enmeshes colloidal particles while the core is exposed to water, like the extended tentacles of Actinia, and adsorbs the dissolved contaminants. The technology, with its ability to remove a broad spectrum of contaminants and produce high-quality water, has the potential to be a cost-effective replacement for current water treatment processes.
当前的水净化技术受到其针对特定污染物的去除能力的限制，需要多个过程才能达到水质目标。在此，我们展示了一种创新的仿生胶束纳米凝聚剂，它模仿海葵（一种利用触手捕获食物的海洋捕食者）的结构，能够通过单一处理步骤去除一系列水中污染物。这种类似海葵的胶束纳米凝聚剂具有核壳结构，易于分散在水中，同时保持高度的抗聚集稳定性。为实现有效凝聚，该纳米凝聚剂会翻转其构型，类似于海葵。外壳水解成“絮凝物”，使胶体颗粒失稳并将其包裹起来，而内核则像海葵伸出的触手一样暴露在水中，吸附溶解的污染物。这项技术能够去除广泛的污染物并产生高质量的水，有潜力成为当前水处理工艺的经济高效替代品。
