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Panasonic has developed a new system for water purification
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
For most people, clean drinking water is nothing special, but in many countries the water is contaminated with various pollutants, and water purification systems are not always available.
Many systems have already been created to purify and desalinate water, and now Panasonic has made its contribution by creating a technology that purifies water using solar energy.
The company recently introduced a method that requires ultraviolet light and a photochemical catalyst to purify dirty water at high speed.
The main advantage of the new water purification system is the ability to attach titanium oxide (TiO2) to a photocatalyst that is activated by sunlight. The main problem for the developers was related to titanium oxide, which, when dissolved in water, disintegrates into ultra-fine particles, making it extremely difficult to collect.
There are currently many methods for bonding titanium oxide into larger particles, but they all have the disadvantage of a significant loss of active surface area.
Panasonic has developed a method that allows collecting the smallest particles of titanium oxide and binding them to zeolite (a well-known adsorbent and catalyst), which has solved the main problem. Thanks to this technology, photocatalysts retain their working surface. In addition, there is no need to use an additional binding component, since the particles are well attached due to ionic bonds.
When the zeolite is shaken, the titanium oxide is released from the photocatalyst and dissolved in water, causing the reaction to occur faster than when titanium oxide is applied to the surface. In addition, the new method makes it possible to process a larger volume of water in less time.
If the water is left to stand for a while, the titanium oxide will reattach to the zeolite and the process of separating it and extracting it from the water for further use will also be facilitated.
At the same time, the catalysts are activated using ultraviolet light and they are able to purify water from impurities of pharmaceuticals in water.
Panasonic collaborates with several Indian research centers where its products are tested. As noted by the company, in India, approximately 70% of the population lives dependent on groundwater, which is polluted by chemical fertilizer residues, waste from factories, and other types of pollutants.
The company intends to supply small communities with clean water, for example, by using trucks equipped with a new water purification system.
The company is also working with local water supply stations and plans to create treatment facilities.
At this stage, the company is working to reduce the cost and operating requirements of the new purification system so that this technology becomes accessible to people in developing countries.
The company plans to develop a system for purifying water in smaller sizes.