Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DOI 10.1007/s11051-005-7523-5
Perspectives
Key words: nanomaterials, water quality, water purification, desalination, nanosorbents, nanocatalysts,
nanofiltration, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, membranes, nanoparticles, nanotechnology,
water and wastewater
Abstract
Advances in nanoscale science and engineering suggest that many of the current problems involving water
quality could be resolved or greatly ameliorated using nanosorbents, nanocatalysts, bioactive nanoparti-
cles, nanostructured catalytic membranes and nanoparticle enhanced filtration among other products and
processes resulting from the development of nanotechnology. Innovations in the development of novel
technologies to desalinate water are among the most exciting and promising. Additionally, nanotechnol-
ogy-derived products that reduce the concentrations of toxic compounds to sub-ppb levels can assist in the
attainment of water quality standards and health advisories. This article gives an overview of the use of
nanomaterials in water purification. We highlight recent advances on the development of novel nanoscale
materials and processes for treatment of surface water, groundwater and industrial wastewater contami-
nated by toxic metal ions, radionuclides, organic and inorganic solutes, bacteria and viruses. In addition,
we discuss some challenges associated with the development of cost effective and environmentally
acceptable functional nanomaterials for water purification.
Figure 1. Selected nanomaterials currently being evaluated as functional materials for water purification.
rates and would use ‘off-the-shelf treatment tech- gives a brief overview of the use of nanomaterials
nologies of the most advanced nature (e.g., supra- in the purification of water contaminated by toxic
selective foul-resistant membrane separations, metal ions, radionuclides, organic and inorganic
customized polymeric adsorbents and molecular solutes, bacteria and viruses. Because a compre-
sieves, supercritical water oxidation, etc.)’ to meet hensive discussion of the applications of nano-
the water needs of population clusters such as technology to water purification is beyond the
housing subdivisions, apartment complexes and scope of this overview, our main objectives here
commercial districts (Weber, 2002). The US are to discuss the opportunities and challenges of
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also using nanomaterials in the purification of surface
evaluating the use of a number of decentralized water, groundwater and industrial wastewater
water treatment concepts as ‘small system compli- streams. Figure 1 highlights four classes of
ance technology’ (USEPA, 1998). These include nanoscale materials that are being evaluated as
package treatment plants (i.e., factory assembled functional materials for water purification: (1)
compact and ready to use water treatment sys- metal-containing nanoparticles, (2) carbonaceous
tems), point-of-entry (POE) and point-of-use nanomaterials, (3) zeolites and (4) dendrimers.
(POU) treatment units designed to process small These have a broad range of physicochemical
amounts of water entering a given unit (e.g., properties that make them particular attractive as
building, office, household, etc.) or a specific tap/ separation and reactive media for water purifica-
faucet within the unit. The protection of water tion. This article is divided into four sections.
treatment systems against potential chemical and Following the introductory section, Section 2
biological terrorist acts is also becoming a critical ‘Nanomaterials and water purification: opportu-
issue in water resources planning (USEPA, 2004). nities for improving and protecting water supplies’
Advances in nanoscale science and engineering highlights recent advances in the development of
are providing unprecedented opportunities to novel water-purification functional materials (e.g.,
develop more cost effective and environmentally nanosorbents, redox and catalytically active
acceptable water purification processes. This article nanoparticles, nanostructured membranes and
333
bioactive active nanoparticles) and processes (e.g., organic pollutants from contaminated water.
dendrimer enhanced ultrafiltration). Section 3 Nanoparticles have two key properties that make
‘Nanomaterials and water purification: challenges’ them particularly attractive as sorbents. On a mass
discusses some of the challenges associated with basis, they have much larger surface areas than
the use of nanomaterials in water purification. bulk particles. Nanoparticles can also be func-
Section 4 ‘Summary and Outlook’ provides a tionalized with various chemical groups to increase
summary and outlook. their affinity towards target compounds. Several
research groups are exploiting the unique proper-
ties of nanoparticles to develop high capacity and
Nanomaterials and water purification: opportunities selective sorbents for metal ions and anions. Li
for improving and protecting water supplies et al. (2003) have investigated the sorption of
Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) onto multiwalled carbon
Recent advances suggest that many of the issues nanotubes (MWCNTs). They reported maximum
involving water quality could be resolved or greatly sorption capacities of 97.08 mg/g for Pb(II),
ameliorated using nanoparticles, nanofiltration or 24.49 mg/g for Cu(II) and 10.86 mg/g for Cd(II) at
other products resulting from the development of room temperature, pH 5.0 and metal ion equilib-
nanotechnology. Innovations in the development of rium concentration of 10 mg/l. Li et al. (2003) also
novel technologies to desalinate water are among found that the metal–ion sorption capacities of the
the most exciting and promising. Utilization of MWCNTs were 3–4 times larger than those of
specific nanoparticles either embedded in mem- powder activated carbon and granular activated
branes or on other structural media that can effec- carbon, two commonly used sorbents in water
tively, inexpensively and rapidly render unusable purification. Qi & Su (2004) have evaluated the
water potable is being explored at a variety of sorption of Pb(II) onto chitosan nanoparticles
institutions. In addition to obvious advantages for (40–100 nm) prepared by ionic gelation of chito-
industrialized nations, the benefits for developing san and tripolyphosphate. The phosphate-func-
countries would also be enormous. Innovative use tionalized chitosan nanoparticles have a maximum
of nanoparticles for treatment of industrial waste- Pb(II) sorption capacity of 398 mg/g. Peng et al.
water is another potentially useful application. (2005) have recently developed a novel sorbent
Many factories generate large amounts of waste- with high surface area (189 m2/g) consisting of
water. Removal of contaminants and recycling of cerium oxide supported on carbon nanotubes
the purified water would provide significant reduc- (CeO2-CNTs). They showed that the CeO2-CNT
tions in cost, time, and labor to industry and result particles are effective sorbents for As(V). Inter-
in improved environmental stewardship. Aquifer estingly, Peng et al. (2005) found that the addition
and groundwater remediation are also critical (from 0 to 10 mg/l) of two divalent cations [Ca(II)
issues, becoming more important as water supplies and Mg(II)] resulted in a substantial increase of
steadily decrease and demand continues to increase. the amount of sorbed As(V) (from 10 to 82 mg/g).
Most of the remediation technologies available Deliyanni et al. (2003) have also synthesized and
today, while effective, very often are costly and time- characterized a novel As(V) sorbent consisting of
consuming, particularly pump-and-treat methods. akaganeite [b-FeO(OH)] nanocrystals. In addition,
The ability to remove toxic compounds from sub- Lazaridis et al. (2005) have shown that nanocrys-
surface and other environments that are very diffi- talline akaganeite is also an effective sorbent for
cult to access in situ, and doing so rapidly, efficiently Cr(VI).
and within reasonable costs is the ultimate goal. Zeolites are effective sorbents and ion-exchange
Below, we highlight the results of selected studies on media for metal ions. NaP1 zeolites (Na6Al6
the use of nanomaterials as separation and reactive Si10O32, 12H2O) have a high density of Na ion
media for water purification. exchange sites. They can be inexpensively synthe-
sized by hydrothermal activation of fly ash with
Nanosorbents low Si/Al ratio at 150°C in 1.0–2.0 M NaOH
solutions (Moreno et al., 2001). NaP1 zeolites
Sorbents are widely used as separation media in have been evaluated as ion exchange media for
water purification to remove inorganic and the removal of heavy metals from acid mine
334
wastewaters (Moreno et al., 2001). Alvarez-Ayuso aromatic compounds (PAHs) such as naphthalene
et al. (2003) reported the successful use of syn- (Cheng et al., 2004). Finally, we would like to
thetic NaP1 zeolites to remove Cr(III), Ni(II), point out the recent synthesis and characteriza-
Zn(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) from metal electroplat- tion of amphiphilic polyurethane nanoparticles
ing wastewaters. Self-assembled monolayers on that can sorb PAHs (e.g., naphthalene) and
mesoporous supports (SAMMS) are providing increase their bioavailability in aqueous solutions
novel opportunities to develop more effective sor- (Tungittiplakorn et al., 2004, 2005).
bents for toxic metal ions (Yantasee et al., 2003),
anions (Kelly et al., 2001) and radionuclides Nanocatalysts and redox active nanoparticles
(Fryxell et al., 2005; Lin et al., 2005). These sor-
bents are made via surfactant templated synthesis Nanoparticles have great potential as water-puri-
of mesoporous ceramics. This produces nanopor- fication catalysts and redox active media due their
ous ceramic oxides with very large surface areas large surface areas and their size and shape-
(1000 m2/g) and high density of sorption sites dependent optical, electronic and catalytic prop-
that can be functionalized to increase their selec- erties (Obare & Meyer, 2004). During the last
tivity toward target pollutants. decade, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles
Carbonaceous nanomaterials can serve as high have emerged as promising photocatalysts for
capacity and selective sorbents for organic solutes water purification (Adesina, 2004). TiO2 nano-
in aqueous solutions. Mangun et al. (2001) have particles are very versatile; they can serve both as
synthesized nanoporous activated carbon fibers oxidative and reductive catalysts for organic and
(ACFs) with an average pore-size of 1.16 nm and inorganic pollutants. The removal of total organic
surface areas ranging from 171 to 483 m2/g. They carbon from waters contaminated with organic
measured the sorption of benzene, toluene, p- wastes was greatly enhanced by the addition of
xylene and ethylbenzene onto the ACFs at 20°C. TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of ultraviolet
Mangun et al. (2001) found that the sorption iso- light as shown by Chitose et al., (2003). Kabra
therms are adequately described by a Freundlich et al. (2004) have recently reviewed the utilization
equation. In all cases, the ACFs had much higher of photocatalysts in the treatment of water con-
organic sorption equilibrium constants than taminated by organic and inorganic pollutants.
granular activated carbon. Peng et al. (2003) have They documented the successful use of TiO2
evaluated the sorption of 1,2-dichlorobenzene nanoparticles to (i) degrade organic compounds
(DCB) onto CNTs. They found that it takes (e.g. chlorinated alkanes and benzenes, dioxins,
only 40 min for DCB sorption onto the CNTs to furans, PCBs, etc.) and (ii) reduce toxic metal
reach equilibrium with a maximum sorption ions [e.g., Cr(VI), Ag(I) and Pt(II)] in aqueous
capacity of 30.8 mg/g. Li et al. (2004) reported solutions under UV light. The synthesis of visible
that MWCNTs were better sorbents of volatile light-activated TiO2 nanoparticles has attracted
organic compounds than carbon black in aqueous considerable interest (Asahi et al., 2001; Bae &
solutions. Fugetsu et al. (2004) have successfully Choi, 2003; Adesina, 2004; Obare & Meyer, 2004).
encapsulated MWCNTs inside cross-linked algi- One of the most cited studies in the field is that
nate vesicles. The caged MWCNTs showed high published by Ashasi et al. (2001). They synthe-
sorption capacity and selectivity for four water- sized N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles that were
soluble dyes (acridine orange, ethidium bromide, capable of photodegrading methylene blue under
eosin bluish and orange G). Zhao & Nagy (2004) visible light. Bae & Choi (2003) have synthesized
have synthesized hybrid inorganic–organic nano- visible light-activated TiO2 nanoparticles based on
sorbents by incorporation of sodium dodecyl sul- TiO2 modified by ruthenium-complex sensitizers
fate (SDS) into magnesium–aluminum layered and Pt deposits. The Pt/TiO2/RuIIL3 nanoparti-
double hydroxides (LDHs). They reported that the cles drastically enhanced the rate of reductive
SDS functionalized Mg/Al LDHs had higher dehalogenation of trichloroacetate and carbon
sorption capacity for chlorinated alkenes [tetra- tetrachloride in aqueous solutions under visible
chloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene light.
(TCE)] in aqueous solutions than organoclays. Nanoscale zero valent iron (Fe0) and bimetallic
Fullerenes can also serve as sorbents for polycyclic Fe0 particles have emerged as effective redox
335
media for the detoxification of organic and inor- Nanomaterials are providing novel opportuni-
ganic pollutants in aqueous solutions. These ties to develop more efficient and cost effective
nanomaterials (10–100 nm) have larger surface nanostructured and reactive membranes for
areas and reactivity than bulk Fe0 particles water purification and desalination. Srivastava
(Schrick et al., 2002; Zhang, 2003; Nurmi et al., et al. (2004) recently reported the successful
2005). Zhang (2003) has given an overview of the fabrication of carbon nanotube filters. These new
synthesis, characterization and use of nanoscale filtration membranes consist of hollow cylinders
Fe0 particle and Fe0/Pd0, Fe0/Pt0, Fe0/Ag0, Fe0/ with radially aligned carbon nanotube walls.
Ni0 and Fe0/Co0 in environmental remediation. Srivastava et al. (2004) showed that the filters
These nanoparticles can reduce a variety of were effective at removing bacteria (Escherichia
organic pollutants (e.g., chlorinated alkanes and coli and Staphylococus aureus) and Poliovirus
alkenes, chlorinated benzenes, pesticides, organic sabin 1 from contaminated water. The carbon
dyes, nitro aromatics, PCBs) and inorganic anions nanotube filters are readily cleaned by ultraso-
(e.g., nitrates) in aqueous solutions to less toxic nication and autoclaving. DeFriend et al. (2003
and recalcitrant by-products. Fe0 and bimetallic reported the successful fabrication of alumina
Fe0 nanoparticles have also been successfully used UF membranes using alumina (A-alumoxanes)
to reduce redox active metal ions such as Cr(VI) to nanoparticles (7–25 nm). The pore-size, and
less toxic and mobile Cr(III) species (Zhang, molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the mem-
2003). The immobilization of metalloporphyrino- branes depend to a large extent on the ‘unifor-
gens in soil–gel matrices has also been successfully mity’ of the alumina nanoparticles. The new UF
used to prepare redox and catalytically active membranes, which have MWCO between 1000–
nanoparticles for the reductive dehalogenation of 10,000 Da and average pore diameter of 4 nm,
chlorinated organic compounds (PCE, TCE and showed selectivity toward a number of synthetic
carbon tetrachloride) in aqueous solutions (Dror dyes (e.g., Direct Red 81, Direct Blue 71 and
et al., 2005). Direct Yellow 71). DeFriend et al. (2003) also
showed that the selectivity and permeate flux
Nanostructured and reactive membranes through the UF membranes can be increased by
doping the alumina nanoparticles with Fe, Mn
Membrane processes such ultrafiltration as (UF), and La. Stanton et al. (2003) have fabricated
nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) novel NF membranes by deposition of 4.5–5.0
are emerging as key components of advanced layer pairs of poly(styrene sulfonate)/poly(allyl-
water purification and desalination technologies amine hydrochloride) onto porous alumina. The
(US Bureau of Reclamation, 2003). Van der new NF membranes exhibit high water flux, high
Bruggen & Vandercasteele (2003) have reviewed retention of divalent cations [Ca(II) and Mg(II)]
the use of nanofiltration to remove cations, and Cl)/SO42) selectivity ratios up to 80. Note
natural organic matter, biological contaminants, that Hollman & Bhattacharaya (2004) have also
organic pollutants, nitrates and arsenic from prepared novel membranes with enhanced metal
groundwater and surface water. Favre-Reguillon ion retention and permeate flux by deposition of
et al. (2003) showed that nanofiltration can be multilayers of charged polypeptides [poly(9L-
used to remove minute quantities of U(VI) from glutamic acid) or poly(L-lysine)] inside the pores
seawater. Mohsen et al. (2003) have evaluated of functionalized polycarbonate track-etched
the use of nanofiltration to desalinate water. membranes (thickness = 10 lm and pore diam-
They found that nanofiltration in combination eter = 200 nm). Finally, we would like to
with reverse osmosis could effectively render highlight the successful preparation of reactive
brackish water potable. Peltier et al. (2003) membranes by incorporation of bimetallic Fe0/
demonstrated an improvement in water quality Pt0 nanoparticles into cellulose acetate films by
for a large water distribution system using Meyer et al. (2004). The embedded metal
nanofiltration. Substantial reductions in the domains of the membranes have an average
quantities of both organic and biological diameter of 24 nm and were found to be very
contaminants (e.g., bacteria and viruses) were effective at reducing TCE with ethane as the
achieved using this process. only observed by-product.
336
One of the authors of this article (Diallo) has dendritic polymers in tangential/cross-flow UF
developed a dendrimer-enhanced ultrafiltration systems typically used in water purification. Other
(DEUF) process (Figure 2) for recovering metal applications of DEUF to water purification are
ions from aqueous solutions (Diallo, 2004; Diallo discussed by Diallo (2004).
et al., 2005). As a proof-of-concept study, Diallo
et al. (2005) tested the feasibility of using DEUF
and poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers Nanomaterials and water purification: challenges
with ethylene diamine (EDA) core and terminal
NH2 groups to recover Cu(II) ions from aqueous Nanomaterials are the drivers of the nanotech-
solutions. On a mass basis, the Cu(II) binding nology revolution. Thus, a key bottleneck to the
capacities of the PAMAM dendrimers are much applications of nanotechnology to water purifica-
larger and more sensitive to solution pH than tion will be the availability of suppliers that can
those of linear polymers with amine groups. Sep- provide large quantities of nanomaterials at eco-
aration of the dendrimer-Cu(II) complexes from nomically viable prices. The Freedonia group has
solutions can be achieved simply by UF mem- recently completed a study of the nanomaterials
branes with the appropriate MWCO. The metal industry (Freedonia, 2005). The study provides
ion laden dendrimers can be regenerated by data on the demand of nanomaterials in the US
decreasing the solution pH to 4.0 (Diallo et al., for the years 2000 and 2003. It also includes
2005); thus enabling the recovery of the bound forecasts of demand to the years 2008, 2013 and
Cu(II) ions and recycling of the dendritic polymer. 2020 by classes of materials (e.g., metal oxides,
PAMAM dendrimers have a very low tendency to clays, metals, polymers and chemicals, nanotubes,
foul commercially available regenerated cellulose dendrimers, etc.) and by applications (e.g., abra-
(RC) membranes (Diallo et al., 2005). They also sives; coatings, thin films, sunscreens; biocides;
have much smaller intrinsic viscosities than linear pharmaceuticals fillers and reinforcements; cata-
polymers with the same molar mass because of lysts; structural materials, etc.). These forecasts
their globular shape (Fréchet & Tomalia, 2001). anticipate that most nanomaterials will be nano-
Thus, comparatively smaller operating pressure scale versions of established products such as
and energy consumption could be achieved with silica, titanium dioxide, clays, metal powders,
Figure 2. Recovery of metal ions from aqueous solutions by dendrimer enhanced filtration. Reprinted with permission from
Environmental Science and Technology, 2005, 39: 1366–1377. Copyright 2005 American Chemical Society.
338
studies of the toxicity of CNTs and fullerenes have toward the synthesis of cost-effective and envi-
been published (Lam et al., 2004; Oberdöster, ronmentally acceptable functional materials. The
2004; Jia et al., 2005). These studies showed that development of smart membranes with biofilm-
underivatized CNTs and fullerenes tend to be resistant surfaces and embedded sensors/actuators
water insoluble and toxic. However, CNTs and that can automatically adjust membrane perfor-
fullerenes can be functionalized with various mance and selectivity by the year 2020 is a key
functional groups (e.g. hydroxyl, carboxyl, amines, long-term goal of the Desalination and Water
etc.) to increase their water solubility and bio- Purification Roadmap prepared by the US
compatibility in some cases (Sayes et al., 2004; Bureau of Reclamation and Sandia National
Bianco et al., 2005). Finally, we would to point out Laboratories (US Bureau of Reclamation, 2003).
that metal-containing particles also exhibit a size- We anticipate that nanomaterials will be key
dependent toxicity (Chen, 2004). Thus, a key components of such membranes. The develop-
challenge will be to gain regulatory and public ment of visible light-activated TiO2 nanoparticles
acceptance for using nanomaterials in water puri- could have a significant impact on water supply.
fication because of their unknown toxicity and The controlled release of these nanoparticles into
environmental impact. surface waters exposed to sunlight could signifi-
cantly reduce organic carbon load through
Summary and outlook oxidative photochemical degradation. In the
near-term, we also anticipate nanomaterials will
Clean water is essential to human health and is a help solve challenging water purification prob-
critical feedstock in a variety of key industries lems including: (1) the desalination of brackish
including electronics, pharmaceuticals and food. water (US Bureau of Reclamation, 2003); (2) the
The world is facing formidable challenges in recovery of valuable and toxic metal ions from
meeting rising demands of clean water as the membrane concentrates thereby facilitating brine
available supplies of freshwater are decreasing due disposal (Van der Bruggen et al. 2003); (3) the
to (i) extended droughts, (ii) population growth, development of chlorine-free biocides (USEPA,
(iii) more stringent health-based regulations, and 1999); and (4) the purification of water contami-
(iv) competing demands from a variety of users. nated by toxic contaminants such as perchlorate,
Nanomaterials have a number of key physico- pharmaceuticals, chiral compounds and endo-
chemical properties that make them particularly crine disrupting compounds (Richardson, 2003).
attractive as separation media for water purifica-
tion. On a mass basis, they have much large sur- Acknowledgements
face areas than bulk particles. Nanomaterials can
also be functionalized with various chemical Nora Savage thanks Stephen Lingle and Estella
groups to increase their affinity toward a given Waldman of the U.S. Environmental Protection
compound. They can also serve as high capacity/ Agency for their efforts in editing this article.
selectivity and recyclable ligands for toxic metal Mamadou Diallo thanks the National Science
ions, radionuclides, organic and inorganic solutes/ Foundation (NSF Grants CTS-0086727 and CTS-
anions in aqueous solutions. Nanomaterials also 0329436) and the US Environmental Protection
provide unprecedented opportunities to develop Agency (NCER STAR Grant R829626) for
more efficient water-purification catalysts and funding his research on the use of dendritic poly-
redox active media due their large surface areas mers as functional materials for water purification.
and their size and shape-dependent optical, elec- Partial funding for this research was also provided
tronic and catalytic properties. Nanomaterials are by the Department of Energy (Cooperative
also being used to develop chlorine-free biocides Agreement EW15254), the W. M. Keck Founda-
through functionalization with chemical groups tion, the National Water Research Institute
that selectively target key biochemical constituents (Research Project Agreement NO 05-TT-004) and
of waterborne bacteria and viruses. the NSF Sponsored Cornell University Nanobio-
We envision that nanomaterials will become technology Center. This center is funded by the
critical components of industrial and public water STC Program of the National Science Foundation
purification systems as more progress is made under Agreement No. ECS-9876771.
340
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