Research
Opens Doors To UV Disinfection Using LED Technology
(May 14, 2012) Research
from North Carolina State University will allow the development of
energy-efficient LED devices that use ultraviolet (UV) light to kill pathogens
such as bacteria and viruses. The technology has a wide array of applications
ranging from drinking-water treatment to sterilizing surgical tools.
“UV
treatment utilizing LEDs would be more cost-effective, energy efficient and
longer lasting,” says Dr. Ramón Collazo, an assistant professor of materials
science and engineering at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the
research. “Our work would also allow for the development of robust and portable
water-treatment technologies for use in developing countries.”
LEDs
utilize aluminum nitride (AlN) as a semiconductor, because the material can
handle a lot of power and create light in a wide spectrum of colors,
particularly in the UV range. However, technologies that use AlN LEDs to create
UV light have been severely limited because the substrates that served as the
foundation for these semiconductors absorbed wavelengths of UV light that are
crucial to applications in sterilization and water treatment technologies.