Boron Doped Diamond Electrodes for an Electrochemical Oxidation Treatment to Disinfect Potable Water Sources Navy SBIR FY2008.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2008.2 Topic No.: N08-113 Topic Title: Boron Doped Diamond Electrodes for an Electrochemical Oxidation Treatment to Disinfect Potable Water Sources Proposal No.: N082-113-0410 Firm: Luna Innovations Incorporated 1 Riverside Circle Suite 400 Roanoke, Virginia 24016 Contact: James Dante Phone: (434) 220-9442 Web Site: www.lunainnovations.com Abstract: Electrochemical oxidation technologies are frequently used by military forces to create disinfectant solutions for individual use water treatment. However, current technologies suffer from degradation of system components because of the added salt required for the oxidation processes. Further, over time, high overpotentials result in the slow oxidation of the DSA electrodes reducing system efficiency. Certain impurities in the feed stock salt can also complex with and degrade the DSA electrodes. To solve these issues, the Luna team proposes the use of high performance electrode (HPE) materials to create oxidizing solutions without the use of feed stock salt. The creation of ozone and hydroxyl free radicals will be facilitated by the use of boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. The efficiency in the reduction of harmful microbial species will be increased by exploring methods to enhance the electrode area per unit volume of solution for a given nominal surface dimension. The maximization of electrode efficiency will reduce interaction times required between source water and the electrode to achieve the specified log reduction of microbiological species and thus reduce power and size specifications for the final device. The end result will be a small, portable, and cost effective device to disinfect potable water. Benefits: While the need for clean drinking water is a high priority for the military, this technology will also find commercial impact with emergency disaster relief and outdoorsman. Of even larger impact is the need for wastewater treatment of industrial water. The technology developed in this program will serve as the basis for large scale wastewater treatment facilities using electrochemical oxidation. Finally, techniques developed in this study for electrochemical modification of the base electrode material will find widespread impact in the medical implant industry, advanced filtration technologies, and optical filters. Return