Advances and application of nanotechnology for wastewater treatment.

INTRODUCTION

Nano is derived from the Greek word for dwarf. It is one billionth of a meter (10-9). In nature, nanotechnology first emerged billions of years ago at the point where molecules began to arrange in complex forms and structure that launched life on earth. Through evolution, mutations and adaptation; plants were able to convert carbon dioxide using the energy from the visible range of sunlight to oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis (Roco, 1999). This transformation is still taking place in tiny structures called chloroplasts composed of several nanoscale thylakoid disks that contain a green pigment (chlorophyll). Another example of a natural nanotechnology is chemical catalysis through catalysts or in bioscience called enzymes. Enzymes are biomolecules that catalyse chemical reactions and sometimes they are considered as indispensable for the completion of specific reactions. In 1897, James Clerk Maxwell was the first to mention some of the nano concepts in nanotechnology through a proposed experiment on a tiny entity known as Maxwells Demon. But the term nanotechnology was first defined Taniguchi (1974) as Nanotechnology mainly consists of the processing of, separation, consolidation, and deformation of materials by one atom or one molecule. It is the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules. Major current tools for nanotechnology measuring include many devices such as STM (scanning tunnelling microscope), SPMs (scanning probe microscopes), AFM (atomic force microscopy) and MBE (molecular beam epitaxy) (Roco, 1999).

Nanotechnology can easily merge with other technologies and modify, endorse or clarify any existing scientific concept, which is why it is so called a platform technology (Shmidt, 2007). It may be a useful tool to address different social problems of developing countries such as the need for clean water and the treatment of epidemic diseases (Fleischer and Grunwald, 2008). BENEFITS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY IN WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT Waste water is any water that has been adversely contaminated by organic pollutants, bacteria and microorganisms, industrial effluent or any compound that deteriorated its initial quality. It can be sub-divided into: a. municipal wastewater (liquid waste discharged by domestic residences and commercial properties), b. industrial wastewater (liquid waste discharged by industrial and agricultural activities) The municipal wastewater is usually less variable than industrial wastewater, the latter being highly affected by the type of industrial activity involved in the discharge of effluent water. In general, the organic composition of wastewater is estimated to consist of proteins (50%), carbohydrates (40%), fats and oils (10%), and trace amounts (e.g. g/L or less) of priority pollutants, surfactants, and emerging contaminants. Often, it contains 105-108 CFU/mL (colony forming unit) of coliform organisms, 103104 CFU/mL fecal streptococci, 101-103 protozoan cysts, and 101-102 virus particles (Ellis, 2004). Generally, conventional sewage treatment includes the following stages (Shon et al. 2007): 1. Preliminary treatment: to remove coarse and readily settleable inorganic solids with the size range of more than 0.01 mm. 2. Primary treatment: to remove the bulk of suspended solids including both organic and inorganic matter (0.1 mm 35 m).

3. Secondary biological treatment: to degrade the biodegradable binding organic matter and nutrients. 4. Tertiary treatment: to remove a portion of remaining organic and inorganic solids and pathogenic microorganisms through a filtration step. This treatment is followed by chemical disinfection. The composition of industrial effluent can vary according to the activity such as agriculture, food industry, iron and steel industry, mine and quarries etc. For the purpose of improving the treatment processes, the use of nanomaterials is being researched to fabricate separation and reactive media which is of high quality in terms of reactivity and performance (Bellona, Drewes, 2007). TiO2 are among the promising nanocatalysts that were tested successfully for their antimicrobial activity. Fullerenes (C60) as pollution tracers, are being used to provide contaminant-fate information to assist in developing water remediation strategies. Metal processing wastewater often contains hexavalent chromium species, Cr(VI), which are toxic and can act as carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens in biological systems (Dupont and Guillon, 2003). Maghemite nanoparticles were studied by Hu et al. (2005) for their potential in removing and recovering chromium from waste water. Nanofiltration is being integrated in many industrial effluent treatment plants to produce effluent with low concentrations of industrial pollutants (Bruggen et al., 2008). The use of nanotechnology to remove contaminants in water is widespread and many advances have already been achieved. A summary of recent advances in nanomaterial research for industrial wastewater treatment includes: a. The nanofiltration of biologically treated effluents from the pulp and paper industry (Manttari et al., 2006).

b. The degradation of organic dyes using manganese-doped ZnO nanoparticles (Ullah and Dutta, 2008). c. The treatment of wastewater from molasses distilleries using nanonize pore membrane (Satyawali and Balakrishnan, 2008). The applications of nanotechnology in the cleanup of contaminated water could be summarized by (Smith 2006): a. Nanoscale filtration techniques b. The adsorption of pollutants on nanoparticles c. The breakdown of contaminants by nanoparticle catalysts There have been different reports on water filtration membranes produced from nanomaterials: a. Nanostructured membranes from nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and dendrimeres. b. Nanoreactive membranes from metal nanoparticles and other nanomaterial. Also, there are effective adsorbents used to remove water contaminants: a. b. c. d. e. Activated carbon Clay materials and silicas Zeolites Metal oxides Modified composites (Nouri et al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2005; Theron et al., 2008)

And the decomposition of organic compounds in water under UV light using TiO2mediated photocatalyst is gaining popularity for there had been many scientific studies which demonstrated its effectiveness.