Applications of nanotechnology in water and wastewater treatment

• Nanotechnology offers opportunities to develop next generation water supply systems.
• Applications of nanomaterials in water treatment and reuse are critically reviewed.
• Nanomaterial properties and mechanisms that enable the applications are discussed.
• Advantages and limitations as well as barriers and research needs are highlighted.
• Challenges include technical hurdles, high cost, and environmental and health risk.

Providing clean and affordable water to meet human needs is a grand challenge of the 21st 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 water and wastewater treatment to improve treatment efficiency as well as to augment water supply through safe use of unconventional water sources. Here we review recent development in nanotechnology for water and wastewater treatment. The discussion covers candidate nanomaterials, properties and mechanisms that enable the applications, advantages and limitations 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.

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