https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-021-00642-w Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement Advertisement Nature Catalysis * View all journals * Search * My Account Login * Explore content * Journal information * Publish with us Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed 1. nature 2. nature catalysis 3. articles 4. article * Article * Published: 01 July 2021 A residue-free approach to water disinfection using catalytic in situ generation of reactive oxygen species * Thomas Richards^1, * Jonathan H. Harrhy ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7691-064X^1, * Richard J. Lewis ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9990-7064^1, * Alexander G. R. Howe^1, * Grzegorz M. Suldecki^2, * Andrea Folli^3, * David J. Morgan ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6571-5731^1,4, * Thomas E. Davies^1, * E. Joel Loveridge^3,5, * David A. Crole^1, * Jennifer K. Edwards^1, * Paul Gaskin^6, * Christopher J. Kiely^7, * Qian He ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4891-3581^8, * Damien M. Murphy^3, * Jean-Yves Maillard^2, * Simon J. Freakley^9 & * Graham J. Hutchings ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8885-1560^1 Nature Catalysis (2021)Cite this article * 104 Altmetric * Metrics details Subjects * Chemical engineering * Heterogeneous catalysis * Pollution remediation Abstract Globally, water disinfection is reliant on chlorination, but requires a route that avoids the formation of chemical residues. Hydrogen peroxide, a broad-spectrum biocide, can offer such an alternative, but is typically less effective than traditional approaches to water remediation. Here, we show that the reactive oxygen species--which include hydroxyl, hydroperoxyl and superoxide radicals--formed over a AuPd catalyst during the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and air are over 10^7 times more potent than an equivalent amount of preformed hydrogen peroxide and over 10^8 times more effective than chlorination under equivalent conditions. The key to bactericidal and virucidal efficacy is the radical flux that forms when hydrogen and oxygen are activated on the catalyst. This approach could form the basis of an alternative method for water disinfection, particularly in communities not currently served by traditional means of water remediation or where access to potable water is scarce. [41929_2021_642_Figa_HTML] Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Access options Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year $99.00 only $8.25 per issue Subscribe All prices are NET prices. VAT will be added later in the checkout. Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent or Buy article Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube. from$8.99 Rent or Buy All prices are NET prices. Additional access options: * Log in * Access through your institution * Learn about institutional subscriptions Fig. 1: Identification of key reactive oxygen species responsible for the treatment of greywater pathogens. [41929_2021_642_Fig1_HTML] Fig. 2: Comparison of microbiocidal efficacy using conventional disinfection agents and in situ H[2]O[2] production. [41929_2021_642_Fig2_HTML] Fig. 3: Catalyst performance and correlation between reactive oxygen species concentration and bactericidal efficacy. [41929_2021_642_Fig3_HTML] Fig. 4: AuPd catalyst structure and morphology. [41929_2021_642_Fig4_HTML] Fig. 5: Catalytic stability over increasing concentrations of bacteria. [41929_2021_642_Fig5_HTML] Data availability The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information or from the authors upon reasonable request, with the underlying data found at the Cardiff University Data Repository via https://doi.org/10.17035/ d.2021.0132824835. Source data are provided with this paper. References 1. 1. Lewis, R. J. & Hutchings, G. J. Recent advances in the direct synthesis of H[2]O[2]. ChemCatChem 11, 298-308 (2019). CAS Article Google Scholar 2. 2. Freakley, S. J. et al. Palladium-tin catalysts for the direct synthesis of H[2]O[2] with high selectivity. Science 351, 965-968 (2016). CAS PubMed Article Google Scholar 3. 3. Wilson, N. M., Priyadarshini, P., Kunz, S. & Flaherty, D. W. Direct synthesis of H[2]O[2] on Pd and Au[x]Pd[1] clusters: understanding the effects of alloying Pd with Au. J. Catal. 357, 163-175 (2018). Article CAS Google Scholar 4. 4. Edwards, J. K. et al. 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CAS PubMed Article Google Scholar Download references Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the research discussion with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and the Cardiff University electron microscope facility for the transmission electron microscopy. R.J.L. and G.J.H. acknowledge Cardiff University and the Max Planck Centre for Fundamental Heterogeneous Catalysis (FUNCAT) for financial support. S.J.F. acknowledges Cardiff University for financial support as part of the MAXNET Energy Consortium. In addition, S.J.F. acknowledges the award of a Prize Research Fellowship from the University of Bath. D.A.C. acknowledges Selden Research Limited. J.-Y.M. and G.M.S. thank Laboratoires Anios for funding. G.J.H. thanks the EPSRC (EP/F008538/ 1) for funding. Q.H. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore, under its NRF Fellowship (NRF-NRFF11-2019-0002). Author information Affiliations 1. Max Planck-Cardiff Centre on the Fundamentals of Heterogeneous Catalysis FUNCAT, Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Thomas Richards, Jonathan H. Harrhy, Richard J. Lewis, Alexander G. R. Howe, David J. Morgan, Thomas E. Davies, David A. Crole, Jennifer K. Edwards & Graham J. Hutchings 2. Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Grzegorz M. Suldecki & Jean-Yves Maillard 3. School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, UK Andrea Folli, E. Joel Loveridge & Damien M. Murphy 4. HarwellXPS, Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH), Didcot, UK David J. Morgan 5. Department of Chemistry, Swansea University, Swansea, UK E. Joel Loveridge 6. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Nelson, UK Paul Gaskin 7. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA Christopher J. Kiely 8. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Qian He 9. Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK Simon J. Freakley Authors 1. Thomas Richards View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 2. Jonathan H. Harrhy View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 3. Richard J. Lewis View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 4. Alexander G. R. Howe View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 5. Grzegorz M. Suldecki View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 6. Andrea Folli View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 7. David J. Morgan View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 8. Thomas E. Davies View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 9. E. Joel Loveridge View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 10. David A. Crole View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 11. Jennifer K. Edwards View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 12. Paul Gaskin View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 13. Christopher J. Kiely View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 14. Qian He View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 15. Damien M. Murphy View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 16. Jean-Yves Maillard View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 17. Simon J. Freakley View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 18. Graham J. Hutchings View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Contributions T.R., J.H.H., R.J.L., A.G.R.H., G.M.S., A.F., J.K.E., D.M.M., J.-Y.M., S.J.F. and G.J.H. contributed to the design of the study. T.R., J.H.H., R.J.L., A.G.R.H., G.M.S., E.J.L., D.A.C. and S.J.F. conducted the experiments and data analysis. R.J.L., A.G.R.H., A.F., J.K.E, P.G., C.J.K., D.M.M., J.-Y.M., S.J.F. and G.J.H. provided technical advice and result interpretation. D.J.M., T.E.D., C.J.K. and Q.H. conducted the catalyst characterization and corresponding data processing. R.J.L., A.F., J.-Y.M., S.J.F. and G.J.H. wrote the manuscript. R.J.L., A.F. and S.J.F. wrote the Supplementary Information, and all the authors commented on and amended both documents. All the authors discussed and contributed to the work. Corresponding author Correspondence to Graham J. Hutchings. Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Additional information Peer review information Nature Catalysis thanks Piedomenico Biasi, Bingcai Pan and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Supplementary information Supplementary Information Supplementary Figs. 1-25, Notes 1-3, Tables 1-5 and References 1-36. Source data Source Data Fig. 2 Statistical Source Data. Source Data Fig. 3 Statistical Source Data. Source Data Fig. 5 Statistical Source Data. Rights and permissions Reprints and Permissions About this article Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark Cite this article Richards, T., Harrhy, J.H., Lewis, R.J. et al. A residue-free approach to water disinfection using catalytic in situ generation of reactive oxygen species. Nat Catal (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41929-021-00642-w Download citation * Received: 10 December 2019 * Accepted: 25 May 2021 * Published: 01 July 2021 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00642-w Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Advertisement Advertisement Explore content * Research articles * Reviews & Analysis * News & Comment * Videos * Current issue * Collections * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed Journal information * About the Journal * Editorial policies Publish with us * For Authors * For Reviewers * Submit manuscript Search Search articles by subject, keyword or author [ ] Show results from [All journals] Search Advanced search Quick links * Explore articles by subject * Find a job * Guide to authors * Editorial policies Nature Catalysis ISSN 2520-1158 (online) nature.com sitemap Nature portfolio * About us * Press releases * Press office * Contact us * * * Discover content * Journals A-Z * Articles by subject * Nano * Protocol Exchange * Nature Index Publishing policies * Nature portfolio policies * Open access Author & Researcher services * Reprints & permissions * Research data * Language editing * Scientific editing * Nature Masterclasses * Nature Research Academies Libraries & institutions * Librarian service & tools * Librarian portal * Open research * Recommend to library Advertising & partnerships * Advertising * Partnerships & Services * Media kits * Branded content Career development * Nature Careers * Nature Conferences * Nature events Regional websites * Nature Africa * Nature China * Nature India * Nature Italy * Nature Japan * Nature Korea * Nature Middle East Legal & Privacy * Privacy Policy * Use of cookies * Manage cookies/Do not sell my data * Legal notice * Accessibility statement * Terms & Conditions * California Privacy Statement Springer Nature (c) 2021 Springer Nature Limited Close Nature Briefing Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter -- what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. 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