Microbial Disinfection with Supercoiling Capacitive Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Water-borne diseases resulting from pathogen infection are especially challenges in areas with inadequate sanitation and power supply. Here a novel disinfection system is developed for bacterial and viral inactivation in water using a self-powered supercoiling-mediated rotational triboelectric nanogenerator (S-TENG) as a power source to drive a new oxidation-assisted electroporation mechanism. Owing to its rational design, the S-TENG achieves an ultrafast rotation (≈7500 rpm), therefore it enables a simultaneous nanowire-enhanced localized electric field and generation of oxidative species resulting in high disinfection performance: >99.9999% microbial inactivation at a high flux of 15 000 L h^-1 m^-2. An integrated S-TENG-powered disinfection prototype using an enlarged electrode (area of 50 cm²) achieves complete disinfection when the gravity-driven natural water flows through the whole system at a high rate (1 L min^-1). This rapid, self-powered water disinfection method is a potential solution for urgent water disinfection needs during disasters and pandemics, and water disinfection in areas with inadequate power supply.