Applications of nanomaterials in water treatment and environmental remediation

Abstract

Nanotechnology has revolutionized plethora of scientific and technological fields; environmental safety is no exception. One of the most promising and well-developed environmental applications of nanotechnology has been in water remediation and treatment where different nanomaterials can help purify water through different mechanisms including adsorption of heavy metals and other pollutants, removal and inactivation of pathogens and transformation of toxic materials into less toxic compounds. For this purpose, nanomaterials have been produced in different shapes, integrated into various composites and functionalized with active components. Nanomaterials have also been incorporated in nanostructured catalytic membranes which can in turn help enhance water treatment. In this article, we have provided a succinct review of the most common and popular nanomaterials (titania, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), zero-valent iron, dendrimers and silver nanomaterials) which are currently used in environmental remediation and particularly in water purification. The catalytic properties and functionalities of the mentioned materials have also been discussed.

Keywords

photocatalysis / titania / silver / carbon nanotube / zero-valent iron / dendrimer

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Amir Ata Saei, research scientist at Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for the editing of this manuscript.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg