University World News - Paper-based water filter for emergencies

Cheap, portable paper-based filters, coated with silver nanoparticles, could be used to produce clean drinking water during disasters such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes, according to Canadian researchers…

Lead chemistry researcher Derek Gray at Canada's McGill University and a colleague coated thick, hand-sized sheets of an absorbent porous paper with silver nanoparticles and then poured live bacteria (Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis) through it. They found that the filter was able to kill nearly all the bacteria and produce water that meets the standards set by the American Environmental Protection Agency.

"It works well in the lab," Gray said. "Now we need to improve it and test it in the field."… The Canadians published their findings online in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.