Publications related to Inactivation by solar photo-Fenton in pet bottles of wild enteric bacteria of natural well water: Absence of re-growth after one week of subsequent storage

Photo-Fenton inactivation of MS2 bacteriophage at alkaline pH by Fe salts or nm to μm-sized oxides, and the Janus-faced effects of natural organic matter in surface waters

César Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis, Ogadimma Cassandra Oji-Okoro, Giulio Farinelli

In this study, MS2 bacteriophage was inactivated by homogeneous and heterogeneous photo-Fenton processes in an alkaline matrix (pH 8) using low concentrations of H2O2 and iron forms (1 mg/L), including Fe(II), Fe(III), and Fe (hydr)oxides. As a reference, ...

Elsevier2024

Acids from fruits generate photoactive Fe-complexes, enhancing solar disinfection of water (SODIS): A systematic study of the novel " fruto-Fenton " process, effective over a wide pH range (4-9)

César Pulgarin, Aline Laetitia Schaub, Stefanos Giannakis, Giulio Farinelli, Mona Kohantorabi

This study aimed to enhance solar disinfection (SODIS) by the photo-Fenton process, operated at natural pH, through the re-utilization of fruit wastes. For this purpose, pure organic acids present in fruits and alimentary wastes were tested and compared wi ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Oxidation processes and me

Urs von Gunten

This publication summarizes my journey in the field of chemical oxidation processes for water treatment over the last 30+ years. Initially, the efficiency of the application of chemical oxidants for micropollutant abatement was assessed by the abatement of ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Plasmonic Nanostructures for Photocatalysis: Material, Photonic and Electronic Effects

Fateme Kiani Shahvandi

Plasmonic photochemistry has a large potential to replace energy-intensive chemical processes with low-temperature, low-pressure light-driven chemical reactions. Plasmonic nanostructures have emerged as promising photocatalysts with exceptional and tunable ...

EPFL2024

System for predicting a prognosis of the neuropsychological and/or neuropsychiatric status in a subject

Olaf Blanke, Fosco Bernasconi

The present invention relates to systems and methods for predicting a prognosis of the neuropsychological and/or neuropsychiatric status in a subject based on reports of Minor Hallucination (MH) events in combination with electrophysiological data of the s ...

2024

Sunshine and a pinch of tropical soils: A natural, low-cost photo-Fenton variation for safer water, assisted by H2O2 or percabonate

Michaël Bensimon, César Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis, Jérémie Decker, Thomas Guillaume

Clean water is essential for human survival, but access to safe drinking water remains a challenge in resource -limited regions. Herein, we explored a low-cost but effective solution for water potabilization using natural iron sources from soils along with ...

ELSEVIER2023

Why five decades of massive research on heterogeneous photocatalysis, especially on TiO2, has not yet driven to water disinfection and detoxification applications? Critical review of drawbacks and challenges

César Pulgarin, Julian Andrés Rengifo Herrera

For fifty years, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been considered as having potential to remove organic and microbiological pollutants from water under either artificial UV light or sunlight irradiation. However, after tens of thousands of published resear ...

Elsevier Science Sa2023

Oxidative Water Treatment: The Track Ahead

Urs von Gunten, Yun Ho Lee

Chemical oxidation has been applied in municipal water treatment for more than a century, initially for disinfection. In the early decades, chlorine disinfection was adopted in the fight against waterborne disease. However, the oxidative properties of chlo ...

2023

Bacterial inactivation in sunlit surface waters is dominated by reactive species that emanate from the synergy between light, iron, and natural organic matter

César Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis, Jun Ma, Da Wang, Shuang Song

In this study, the synergistic and antagonistic effects of Fe species and coexisting natural organic matter (NOM) on the efficacy of solar light disinfection of water are investigated. Different initial iron species (Fe2+/Fe3+) and naturalorganic matter ty ...

Elsevier2023

Mechanistic insights on interactions of dissolved organic matter with chemical oxidants: quantification of reactive sites and identification of oxidation byproducts

Joanna Maria Houska

Chemical oxidants including ozone (O3), chlorine (HOCl/OCl-) and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) are applied for disinfection of drinking water. To cope with water scarcity and the increased risks associated with the presence of micropollutants, water treatment sy ...

EPFL2023

Atmospheric water harvesting in semi-arid regions by membranes: A techno-economic assessment

Kumar Varoon Agrawal, Marina Micari, Xuekui Duan

The availability of a reliable and sufficient amount of water constitutes one of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The provision of water is still challenging in many regions of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions ...

ELSEVIER2023

Effects of simulated secondary organic aerosol water on PM 1 levels and composition over the US

Athanasios Nenes, Spyros Pandis

Water is a key component of atmospheric aerosol, affecting many aerosol processes including gas-to-particle partitioning of semi-volatile compounds. Water related to secondary organic aerosol (SOAW) is often neglected in atmospheric chemical transport mode ...

Copernicus GmbH2023

Critical Review on Bromate Formation during Ozonation and Control Options for Its Minimization

Urs von Gunten

Ozone is a commonly applied disinfectant and oxidantin drinkingwater and has more recently been implemented for enhanced municipalwastewater treatment for potable reuse and ecosystem protection. Onedrawback is the potential formation of bromate, a possible ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

Ozonation of lake water and wastewater: Identification of carbonous and nitrogenous carbonyl-containing oxidation byproducts by non-target screening

Urs von Gunten, Joanna Maria Houska

Ozonation of drinking water and wastewater is accompanied by the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) such as low molecular weight aldehydes and ketones from the reactions of ozone with dissolved organic matter (DOM). By applying a recently develope ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Predicting Transformation Products during Aqueous Oxidation Processes: Current State and Outlook

Urs von Gunten

Water quality and its impacts on human and ecosystem health presents tremendous global challenges. While oxidative water treatment can solve many of these problems related to hygiene and micropollutants, identifying and predicting transformation products f ...

2023

Identifying the mediators of intracellular E. coli inactivation under UVA light: The (photo) Fenton process and singlet oxygen

César Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis

Solar disinfection (SODIS) was probed for its underlying mechanism. When Escherichia coli was exposed to UVA irradiation, the dominant solar fraction acting in SODIS process, cells exhibited a shoulder before death ensued. This profile resembles cell killi ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Pretreatment options for micropollutant abatement before aquifer recharge in drinking water production: Assessment of UV/H2O2 and dense membranes

Robin Wünsch

Micropollutants (MP) such as residues of pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals or pesticides can be detected in almost all water resources. Various processes can be used to abate them in drinking water treatment, e.g., ozonation, advanced oxidation process ...

EPFL2022

Solar water purification with photocatalytic nanocomposite filter based on TiO2 nanowires and carbon nanotubes

Luca Rossi, László Forró, Dominique Grandjean, Andrzej Sienkiewicz, Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Endre Horvath, Miriam Gaál

Water contamination due to environmental conditions and poor waste management in certain areas of the world represents a serious problem in accessing clean and safe drinking water. This problem is especially critical in electricity-poor regions, where adva ...

2022

Kinetic and mechanistic understanding of chlorite oxidation during chlorination: Optimization of ClO2 pre-oxidation for disinfection byproduct control

Urs von Gunten, Yun Ho Lee

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) applications to drinking water are limited by the formation of chlorite (ClO2-) which is regulated in many countries. However, when ClO2 is used as a pre-oxidant, ClO2- can be oxidized by chlorine during subsequent disinfection. In ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Iodide sources in the aquatic environment and its fate during oxidative water treatment - A critical review

Urs von Gunten

Iodine is a naturally-occurring halogen in natural waters generally present in concentrations between 0.5 and 100 mu g L-1. During oxidative drinking water treatment, iodine-containing disinfection by-products (I-DBPs) can be formed. The formation of I-DBP ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022