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  • Review Article
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The role of nanotechnology in tackling global water challenges

Nature Sustainability volume 1, pages 166–175 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Sustainable provision of safe, clean and adequate water supply is a global challenge. Water treatment and desalination technologies remain chemically and energy intensive, ineffective in removing key trace contaminants, and poorly suited to deployment in decentralized (distributed) water treatment systems globally. Several recent efforts have sought to leverage the reactive and tunable properties of nanomaterials to address these technological shortcomings. This Review assesses the potential applications of nanomaterials in advancing sustainable water treatment systems and proposes ways to evaluate the environmental risks and social acceptance of nanotechnology-enabled water treatment processes. Future areas of research necessary to realize safe deployment of promising nanomaterial applications are also identified.

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Fig. 1: ENM-enabled disinfection processes.
Fig. 2: Nanotechnology-based platforms for decontamination processes.
Fig. 3: Nanotechnology-enabled reverse osmosis (RO) for desalination and water reuse to efficiently expand potable water supplies.
Fig. 4: Environmental implications of ENMs in water treatment throughout their life cycle.
Fig. 5: Benefits and risks of deploying ENMs in drinking-water treatment.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support received from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (Grant EEC-1449500).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Meagan S. Mauter

  2. Department of Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Meagan S. Mauter

  3. Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Ines Zucker, Jay R. Werber, Jae-Hong Kim & Menachem Elimelech

  4. School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    François Perreault

  5. Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Jae-Hong Kim & Menachem Elimelech

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  1. Meagan S. Mauter
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  2. Ines Zucker
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  3. François Perreault
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  4. Jay R. Werber
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  6. Menachem Elimelech
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Correspondence to Menachem Elimelech.

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Mauter, M.S., Zucker, I., Perreault, F. et al. The role of nanotechnology in tackling global water challenges. Nat Sustain 1, 166–175 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0046-8

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