Water is the most essential substance for all life on earth and a
precious resource for human civilization. Reliable access to
clean and affordable water is considered one of the most basic
humanitarian goals, and remains a major global challenge for
the 21st century.
Our current water supply faces enormous challenges, both
old and new. Worldwide, some 780 million people still lack
access to improved drinking water sources (WHO, 2012). It is
urgent to implement basic water treatment in the affected
areas (mainly in developing countries) where water and
wastewater infrastructure are often non-existent. In both
developing and industrialized countries, human activities
play an ever-greater role in exacerbating water scarcity by
contaminating natural water sources. The increasingly stringent water quality standards, compounded by emerging contaminants, have brought new scrutiny to the existing water
treatment and distribution systems widely established in
developed countries. The rapidly growing global population
and the improvement of living standard continuously drive up
the demand. Moreover, global climate change accentuates the
already uneven distribution of fresh water, destabilizing the
supply. Growing pressure on water supplies makes using
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 713 348 2046; fax: þ1 713 348 5268.
E-mail address: qilin.li@rice.edu (Q. Li).
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/watres
water research 47 (2013) 3931e3946
0043-1354/$ e see front matter ª 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.058unconventional water sources (e.g., stormwater, contamnated fresh water, brackish water, wastewater and seawater)
a new norm, especially in historically water-stressed regions.
Furthermore, current water and wastewater treatment technologies and infrastructure are reaching their limit for
providing adequate water quality to meet human and environmental needs.Recent advances in nanotechnology offer leapfrogging
opportunities to develop next-generation water supply systems. Our current water treatment, distribution, and
discharge practices, which heavily rely on conveyance and
centralized systems, are no longer sustainable. The highly
efficient, modular, and multifunctional processes enabled
by nanotechnology are envisaged to provide high performance, affordable water and wastewater treatment solutions
that less rely on large infrastructures (Qu et al., 2013).
Nanotechnology-enabled water and wastewater treatment
promises to not only overcome major challenges faced by
existing treatment technologies, but also to provide new
treatment capabilities that could allow economic utilization of
unconventional water sources to expand the water supply.
Here, we provide an overview of recent advances in
nanotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment. The
major applications of nanomaterials are critically reviewed
based on their functions in unit operation processes. The
barriers for their full-scale application and the research needs
for overcoming these barriers are also discussed. The potential impact of nanomaterials on human health and ecosystem
as well as any potential interference with treatment processes
are beyond the scope of this review and thus will not be
detailed addressed here.significant improvement with their extremely high specific
surface area and associated sorption sites, short intraparticle
diffusion distance, and tunable pore size and surface chemistry
Water is the most essential substance for all life on earth and a
precious resource for human civilization. Reliable access to
clean and affordable water is considered one of the most basic
humanitarian goals, and remains a major global challenge for
the 21st century.
Our current water supply faces enormous challenges, both
old and new. Worldwide, some 780 million people still lack
access to improved drinking water sources (WHO, 2012). It is
urgent to implement basic water treatment in the affected
areas (mainly in developing countries) where water and
wastewater infrastructure are often non-existent. In both
developing and industrialized countries, human activities
play an ever-greater role in exacerbating water scarcity by
contaminating natural water sources. The increasingly stringent water quality standards, compounded by emerging contaminants, have brought new scrutiny to the existing water
treatment and distribution systems widely established in
developed countries. The rapidly growing global population
and the improvement of living standard continuously drive up
the demand. Moreover, global climate change accentuates the
already uneven distribution of fresh water, destabilizing the
supply. Growing pressure on water supplies makes using
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 713 348 2046; fax: þ1 713 348 5268.
E-mail address: qilin.li@rice.edu (Q. Li).
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/watres
water research 47 (2013) 3931e3946
0043-1354/$ e see front matter ª 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.058unconventional water sources (e.g., stormwater, contamnated fresh water, brackish water, wastewater and seawater)
a new norm, especially in historically water-stressed regions.
Furthermore, current water and wastewater treatment technologies and infrastructure are reaching their limit for
providing adequate water quality to meet human and environmental needs.Recent advances in nanotechnology offer leapfrogging
opportunities to develop next-generation water supply systems. Our current water treatment, distribution, and
discharge practices, which heavily rely on conveyance and
centralized systems, are no longer sustainable. The highly
efficient, modular, and multifunctional processes enabled
by nanotechnology are envisaged to provide high performance, affordable water and wastewater treatment solutions
that less rely on large infrastructures (Qu et al., 2013).
Nanotechnology-enabled water and wastewater treatment
promises to not only overcome major challenges faced by
existing treatment technologies, but also to provide new
treatment capabilities that could allow economic utilization of
unconventional water sources to expand the water supply.
Here, we provide an overview of recent advances in
nanotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment. The
major applications of nanomaterials are critically reviewed
based on their functions in unit operation processes. The
barriers for their full-scale application and the research needs
for overcoming these barriers are also discussed. The potential impact of nanomaterials on human health and ecosystem
as well as any potential interference with treatment processes
are beyond the scope of this review and thus will not be
detailed addressed here.significant improvement with their extremely high specific
surface area and associated sorption sites, short intraparticle
diffusion distance, and tunable pore size and surface chemistry
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