Water Sustainability Through Nanoscience
Hydrogen peroxide is among the most common and versatile of household products: disinfecting wounds, bleaching hair, whitening teeth and removing stains, cleansing contact lenses and killing mold.
Zirconium, one of the most abundant elements in the world, is stable and just as chemically innocuous. A corrosion resistant metal used in nuclear reactors and high performance pumps and valves, in oxide form it even serves as jewelry and in treating poison ivy.
In two separate nano-inspired projects, Lehigh researchers are working to add to the credit reels of these workaday chemicals a shared, and perhaps loftier usage than ever before -- providing healthy water to parts of the world that need it most.
Luis Deliz