Cell inactivation is a general process that has broad applications in food, water and medical industry. Electroporation is a promising alternative to traditional cell inactivation methods (e.g., thermal, chlorine, and ultraviolet radiation), attributed to its high throughput, free chemicals usage, and outstanding efficacy to all pathogens. However, concerns of high energy consumption (>10 kJ per liter of liquid sample treated) and safety issues to generate a strong field (~10⁷ V/m) have been the major obstacles to the large-scale implementation of electroporation for cell inactivation. To overcome these limitations, conductive one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures have been placed on electrode surfaces to generate high electric field strength near the tip of the 1D structures with low applied voltages (<20 V). Taking advantage of this phenomenon, low-voltage electroporation devices have been introduced to achieve high efficiency with low energy consumption and high throughput. For example, we have developed a new copper-oxide nanowire (CuONW)-modified 3D copper foam electrode using a facile thermal oxidation approach. An electroporation disinfection cell (EDC) equipped with two such electrodes has achieved superior water disinfection performance (>7-log removal and no detectable bacteria in the effluent). The inactivation mechanism of electroporation guarantees an exceedingly low operation voltage (1 V) and energy consumption (25 J/L) with a short contact time (7 s). Low operation voltage avoids chlorine generation, thus reduces the potential of disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation. In addition, due to irreversible electroporation damage on cell membranes, no bacteria re-growth/reactivation occurs during storage after EDC treatment.