CTC has presented its work about graphene oxide utilisation to enhance the efficiency of processes for elimination of emerging pollutants in water.

The publication took place in GraphIN International Workshop : an international congress about graphene organised by the Fundación Phantoms, in Zaragoza. Representatives of the main national and international industries that work in graphene and its applications have attended to the Workshop.

The researcher Marina González-Barriuso, graphene specialist, has explained how graphene oxide can help to improve the processes for elimination of new pollutants in waste waters, and to facilitate the reuse process of an increasingly scarce commodity.

The process consists of a photocatalyst integration, as titanium dioxide, on graphene oxide. Photocatalysts are materials that help to the pollutants degradation using the light. So, graphene enhances the degradation capacity of emerging wastes, speeding up the process of water decontamination. The use of new photocatalyst material would improve the performance of wastewater treatment plants.

The emerging pollutants are of different origin and chemical nature, being derivatives of pesticides, drugs or bath products. Current water purification systems are not suitable to treat these new pollutants. For this reason, technologies as photocatalytic oxidation presented by the CTC, are aimed to solve this environmental problem.