Clean water is hard to come by for alot of people in the world. One method of purification of bacteria contaminated water is UV light from the sun. While this method works it only uses four percent of the suns energy. Stanford University students have created a small black rectangle that when put in contaminated water harnesses up to fifty percent of the suns energy . This could be a nightmare game changer for poor people without access to clean water.

Key Takeaways:

• With that in mind, the researchers created a small device that when dropped in water uses solar energy to disinfect it in just minutes.
• When sunlight hits it, it forms hydrogen peroxide and other bacteria-killing chemicals that are able to eliminate 99.999 percent of the bacteria present in the water sample in only 20 minutes
• While the device does disinfect the water, it’s not able to remove any chemical pollutants, so it’s best suited for areas that are mostly concerned with microbes in the water, not industrial pollution.

“The nanostructured device is about half the size of a postage stamp. When sunlight hits it, it forms hydrogen peroxide and other bacteria-killing chemicals that are able to eliminate 99.999 percent of the bacteria present in the water sample in only 20 minutes. The chemicals then dissipate and leave pure water behind.”

https://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/tiny-black-rectangle-disinfects-water-minutes.html