‘Janus’ nanorods convert light to heat that can destroy pollutants in water

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Trace amounts of contaminants – such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and perfluorooctanoic acid – in drinking water sources have posed significant health risks to humans in recent years. Certain chemical processes that typically involve ozone, hydrogen peroxide, or ultraviolet light have proven effective at removing them, but these processes can be expensive and energy-intensive. Nanoparticles created by engineers at Yale University and Rice University could lead to technologies that get around those limitations.