Inactivation of Bacterial Viruses in Water Using Deep Ultraviolet Semiconductor Light-Emitting Diode

Disinfection of bacterial viruses MS2, Qβ, and φX174 in water was successfully carried out using deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs) operated at 280 nm and 255 nm. It was shown that the 280-nm DUV-LEDs are much more suitable than the 255-nm DUV-LEDs for the disinfection of water because, even though the disinfection efficiency of the former DUV-LEDs is only half that of the latter ones, the production of high-power 280-nm DUV-LEDs is much easier than that of the 255-nm ones because the external quantum efficiency of the 280-nm DUV-LEDs is more than ten times that of the 255-nm DUV-LEDs. We propose the use of vertical emitting DUV-LEDs for the design of an efficient DUV-LED disinfection chamber. This disinfection technique using DUV-LEDs will open new avenues for water purification.