A research team developed a way to curb a common issue in modern technology manufacturing.
As explained in Tech Xplore in early May, University of Technology Sydney professor Long Nghiem used chemistry to help the manufacturing industry recycle more water, which could be a crucial step toward a more sustainable future. Nghiem and his team partnered with water tech startup Infinite Water International Australia to develop a new catalytic technology that breaks down common pollutants in wastewater from manufacturing plants.
"With the booming demand for microchips to power artificial intelligence, and huge volumes of water being used to manufacture them, companies need to recycle at least 90% of their water to not deplete local supplies," Nghiem said, per Tech Xplore. "More than 100 specialty chemicals are used in microchip manufacturing. We need to remove the worst of these chemicals to get clean water at the end of the process."
Nghiem noted that the "two most problematic of these chemicals are hydrogen peroxide, used in surface cleaning, and triazole, for corrosion prevention," both of which are "very toxic and don't break down easily."
The article explained that TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, uses a whopping 275,000 metric tons of water per day across three science parks in Taiwan, equivalent to one-fifth the daily water supply of Sydney.
This is just one example of the vast amount of wastewater created from modern technology manufacturing, highlighting the necessity of Nghiem's innovation to remove these chemicals from water to make it reusable rather than continuing to rely on local supplies and reducing community water sources.
"Typically, more than 10% of the capital expenditure of these advanced semiconductor manufacturing fabrication plants (or fabs) are for water use and water recycling. This adds up to billions of dollars," Matthew Ng, founder and CEO of IWI Australia, said, per Tech Xplore.
"We're looking to help them sustainably recycle water more cost-efficiently at this huge scale. This industrial disruptive innovation can address significant pain points for these companies. Once they can remove specialist chemicals at a much lower cost, it allows them to recycle most of the water and discharge any excess wastewater safely into the environment."
IWI Australia has already begun working with two of the world's largest logic-chip makers to evaluate the potential implementation of this innovative technology into their wastewater operations. The technology has already been patented for use with hydrogen peroxide removal, though the patent is still pending for triazole destruction.
By paving the way for manufacturing plants to recycle more water, this technology can reduce the amount of pollution that enters our water systems, which is essential for maintaining clean water sources and safeguarding public health.
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"We degrade the pollutants to the point where the water becomes safe for any subsequent processes for recycling or eventual disposal," Nghiem said, per Tech Xplore. "The current treatment process for making microchips has been around [for] almost 100 years. We're not trying to change this process; we're trying to add to and utilize all of the existing infrastructure."
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