Self-powered electro-coagulation system driven by a wind energy harvesting triboelectric nanogenerator for decentralized water treatment

Many decentralized communities like rural communities of developing countries and remote communities, suffer from a scarcity of adequate water treatment because there is insufficient capital to construct relevant facilities, no experts to handle the required chemicals, insufficient electricity to operate them. Herein, we report a fully self-powered electro-coagulation (SPEC) system for de-centralized water treatment. For this, a triboelectric nanogenerator harvests ambient wind energy to provide the needed power. A simple electro-coagulation unit, composed of a simple pair of electrodes, successfully removes dissolved colloidal pollutants from water, while coagulating and precipitating pollutants, without any use of chemicals or an external power supply. The SPEC system removes 90% of algae and 97% of organic dye with self-powered treatment for 72 h. Due to its easy operation, and its low cost arising from its inherently simple structure, requirement for much smaller-scale facilities and low operating cost, the SPEC system could become a powerful candidate for appropriate water treatment in many regions lacking centralized water treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.