New LEDs may offer better way to clean water in remote areas

Engineers at The Ohio State University are developing the foil based LEDs for portable ultraviolet (UV) lights that soldiers and others can use to purify drinking water and sterilize medical equipment. In the journal Applied Physics Letters, the researchers describe how they designed the LEDs to shine in the high-energy "deep" end of the UV spectrum. The university will license the technology to industry for further development. Deep UV light is already used by the military, humanitarian organizations and industry for applications ranging from detection of biological agents to curing plastics, explained Roberto Myers, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State.