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ELECTRON4WATER is an ERC Starting Grant project led by Jelena Radjenovic, ICRA researcher and ICREA Research Professor. This project, lasting five years and with a budget of 1.5 million, focuses on the development of nanostructured electrode materials and their use for the electrochemical treatment of water. Its main objective is to achieve a more complete removal of persistent organic, inorganic and microbial contaminants from contaminated water, and with low capital and operating costs.
The project team currently consists of five PhD students and two postdoctoral research fellows, working on the development and synthesis of nanostructured materials, and on the comprehensive evaluation of electrochemical systems equipped with these materials for the removal and the degradation of a number of persistent water pollutants.
The team recently submitted an EU patent application for the electrochemical treatment of water using low-cost graphene sponge electrodes, and it is expected that these systems will soon be applied in the decentralized treatment of l water
Electrochemical systems equipped with graphene sponge electrodes are capable of inactivating viruses and bacteria, and degrading persistent organic pollutants such as perfluoroalkylated and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), antibiotics and others, without compromising the quality of the treated water and without forming toxic byproducts.
