Applications of Nanotechnology in Waste water treatment: A Review

Providing clean and affordable water to meet human needs is a major challenge of the 21 st century. Worldwide, water supply struggles to keep up with the fast growing demand, which is exacerbated by population growth, global climate change, and water quality deterioration. The need for technological innovation to enable integrated water management cannot be overstated. Nanotechnology holds great potential in advancing wastewater treatment to improve treatment efficiency as well as to augment water supply through safe use of unconventional water sources. In this paper we review recent development in nanotechnology for water and wastewater treatment. The Review covers candidate nanomaterials, properties and mechanisms that enable the applications, advantages and disadvantages as compared to existing processes, and barriers and research needs for commercialization. By tracing these technological advances to the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, the present review outlines the opportunities and limitations to further capitalize on these unique properties for sustainable water management This review also presents an overview of the importance of nanotechnology in removing contaminants from water/wastewater.