Graphene-Enhanced Water Purification
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HÖGSKOLAN - EKT KOMPONENTER OCH KRETSAR, KTH, Kista |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 300 000 |
| Project duration | December 2018 - September 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Strategic innovation program SIO Grafen |
| Call | 2017-05429-en |
Important results from the project
The goal of this project is to explore the feasibility of developing scalable and cost-effective techniques to effectively resolve the biofouling issues in the present water purification technologies. Our project results have confirmed the feasibility.
Expected long term effects
In practice, we have developed a unique inkjet printing technique to fabricate graphene coatings with plenty of vertically standing flakes. Two independent tests have confirmed the biofouling resistance performance of the printed vertical graphene coatings. In consideration of the simple and scalable processing, the inkjet printing technique developed in this project has great potential to address the biofouling issues and substantially contribute to the further market of water purification.
Approach and implementation
The Printed Electronics group at KTH has developed comprehensive inkjet printing and spraying techniques to fabricate graphene coatings on different substrates (glass, plastics, etc.) with different graphene orientation and morphology. Sta Maria Water AB has conducted two independent tests, Hygicult TPC test and crystal violet staining test, to characterize the biofouling resistance performance of the graphene coatings.