A PRESENTATION ON USE OF NANO MATERIALS IN WATER PURIFICATION

BY JAIKUMAR LASHWANI KAUSTUBH MODAK

INTRODUCTION
Clean water is a necessary requirement today. And in parts of the

world, the demand is fast exceeding supply. While water is plentiful, clean water for human consumption is often limited. Global consumption of water is doubling every 20 years, more than twice the rate of human population growth. New approaches are continually being examined and these need to be lower in overall cost, durable and or more effective than current options for the removal of contaminants from water. It is in this context that nano-enabled technologies are being considered.

SHORTCOMINGS OF CONVENTIONAL PURIFICATION METHODS

There are many procedures and processes to treat fluids for consumption, use disposal, and other needs. Among the most prevalent are-

SterilizationAdsorption, chemical treatments, ozone disinfection, and UV irradiation are different technologies available for the sterilization of liquid. each of these technologies has limitations, including overall efficency, initial & operating cost, byproduct risk, necessary pre- treatment of liquid, hazardous compounds used or produced, and other limitations. ChlorineChlorine, though, carries with it significant risks including the facts that chlorine residual is toxic to aquatic life, chlorine is corrosive and toxic, chlorine's oxidation of organic matter creates hazardous compounds, and some parasitic species have shown resistance.

Ultraviolet radiations At low dosages it may not be effective. Organisms can sometimes reverse and repair UV damage. Tubes can foul requiring frequent preventative maintenance. disposal of hazardous UV lamps can be expensive.

DesalinationThe amount of electricity required for electro dialysis, and therefore its operating cost, increases with increasing salinity of feed liquid.

WHAT IS NANO?
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to
create materials and devices with vastly different properties. Nanomaterials are available today in the form of activated materials like carbon or alumina. These materials have high surface areas; however, because of the fine pores, not all the water can easily reach the active surfaces and they are easily plugged. The small size of nanomaterials creates a major challenge. These fine particles or fibers cannot just be added to drinking water; rather, they must be incorporated into filtration media in ways that allow for the contaminants to readily come in contact with the active media.

NANOTECH SOLUTIONS
Use of nano tubes in filtration Use of nano particles as treatment agents

NANOTUBE FILTERS
A.
The use of carbon nanotubes as filtering devices-

Filtration of the sample prior to processing is an essential step when performing analysis in microfluidic devices. Since microfluidic channels are small, particle contamination can cause operational problems. Carbon nanotube microfluidic elements have a potential for both filtration and concentration. Carbon nanotube mesh self assembles into a robust nano-porous structure, which eliminates the need for nano-litho~aphically patterned features. The mesh has pores on the order of l0-50nm, the surface-to-volume ratio superior to the packed bead columns and the surface that can be modified with polymers that incorporate particular chemical functionality.

 A possibility of patterning carbon

nanotube arrays in specific parts of a micro fabricated device allows easy integration into microfluidic devices and gives this approach a great advantage over more conventional separation media. Nanotube arrays can also be tuned to a particular application since it is possible to control nanotube size, density and orientation in the growth process.

B. Removal of bacteria using nanotube filters Use of the nanotube filters was evaluated for the successful removal of

bacterial contamination from drinking water. A common pollutant of drinking water is the faecal bacterium Escherichia coli is responsible for many waterborne diseases. Studies have shown that the nanotube filters fabricated could be used successfully to obtain bacteria-free water for human consumption. Sterile saline water with light bacterial suspension was analysed. The suspension has a light pink and turbid (Fig. a) colour, due to the fact that the bacteria colonies were scraped from the surface of MacConey agar, which contains Phenol red as an indicator.

 This bacterial suspension was subjected to a filtration process through the

nanotube filters placed in a geometry similar to that used for endflow geometry (Fig. c). The product of the filtration process is shown in Fig. d.The filtered fluid is pure saline water and does not have a pink turbid colour suggesting that after filtration E.Coli bacteria have been eliminated.

USE OF NANO PARTICLES AS TREATMENT DEVICES

Nano particles have many special properties, such as: [A] High specific surface area [B] High adsorpability [C] Highly active in reaction

Nano particles in water treatment:

Using nano particles in water treatment technology can obtain many achievements. There are many approaches to use nano particles for water treatment: Nano particles can be used to catalyze the reactions to remove organic contaminants. They can also be used in a emulsion to remove dense non aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL). Nano particles are also used as adsorbants or they can combine many functions spontaneously.

ADVANTAGES
Nanomaterials have a number of key physicochemical properties
that make them particularly attractive as separation media for water purification. On a mass basis, they have much large surface areas than bulk particles. Nanomaterials can also be functionalized with various chemical groups to increase their affinity toward a given compound. Nanomaterials also provide unprecedented opportunities to develop more efficient water-purification catalysts and redox active media due their large surface areas and their size and shape-dependent optical, electronic and catalytic properties. Nanomaterials are also being used to develop chlorine-free biocides through functionalization with chemical groups that selectively target key biochemical constituents of waterborne bacteria and viruses.

CONCLUSION
An increasing use of nanomaterials will be seen in the
coming decade because of the significant contaminant removal potential that exists for improving the effectiveness of water purification systems. One approach is to use a porous ceramic media containing the active nanomaterials. This approach has been shown in the laboratory to be effective for arsenic, lead and phosphate removal as well as the breakdown of some organic contaminants. Field trials are needed to observe the long-term advantages and practical-use applications of these nanomedia products.