Nanotechnology

In
Water Purification

Authors: Aparna Sinha

Alay Kankura

College: Institute of Technology

Nirma University
 Nanotechnology in Water concept of nanotechnology was
proposed accidentally as a hypothesis by
Purification
the eminent physicist Richard P.
Aparna Sinha
Feynman in one of his lectures long
Alay Kankura
back, it has become a reality very
recently. Nanotechnology is finding
Introduction applications in every field – from
robotics and electronics to medicine. The
More than two thirds of the earth’s world, as they say, is getting smaller.
surface is covered by water. However,
only one percent of this is available for To counter the water crisis,
drinking without treating or melting nanotechnology is a promising tool.
polar ice caps. About one billion people Water Purification is one of the major
in the world cannot access drinking fields where this technology can have
water and more than 2.4 billion people numerous applications.
lack proper sanitary conditions.
The major concern for water purifiers is
In this time of water crisis, immediate to remove organic compounds,
steps need to be taken for development biological pathogens, and heavy metals.
of techniques that can make potable Many nanotechnology techniques have
water more easily available. All over the been developed for the purpose. The
world, scientists are trying to develop main objective of these methods is to
technologies to provide safe and clean counter the problem at the molecular
drinking water. Several methods are level.
used for this purpose the common ones
being RO systems, UV filters, biological
methods…the list goes on.

One of the latest technologies emerging

today is nanotechnology. Though the
The Processes Surface Engineered Silica Particles
Researchers and scientists all over the
world have come up with many Peter Majewski and Chiu Ping Chan of
ingenious nanotechnological water Ian Wark Research Institute at the
purification techniques. Some of these University of South Australia have come
are as below: up with a new method for water
purification. The use is efficient and
- Surface engineered silica (SES) economical, the manufacturing process
particles being simple and convenient.
- Turbobeads
- NanoH2O The method involves formation of
- Filters developed by CSIRO special silica particles with a nanometre
- Virus filters thin layer of active material on its
- Carbon nanotubes surface. The particles are called Surface
Engineered Silica Particles.
The active medium is a hydrocarbon
with silicon containing anchor that holds
the layer onto the surface of the silica
particle. The manufacture is very simple
involving only mixing of the particles in
the medium. The formation of the
coating takes place through chemical
self-assembly; hence no loss of energy is
involved.
The purification process involves mixing
of SES particles into contaminated
water, constant stirring for one hour and Turbobeads are highly specialised

then filtering the powder formed. The nanoparticles with magnetic properties.

SES particles act through electrostatic These particles are around 30 nm in

forces. The coating formed gives a

surface charge to the particles. When
mixed with water, they attract impurities
and hold them onto themselves. On
filtering, the SES particles carry off the
impurities and the filtrate is pure potable
water.
This method effectively removes
Magnified view of Turbobeads
bacteria, pathogens, viruses and other
impurities.
diameter and are effective water
Similar to this concept, we have
purifiers. They are metallic particles
Turbobeads that use magnetic instead of
having a functionalised covalent
electrostatic effects.
carboxyl coating over them.

The coating gives the particles their

magnetic properties.
Turbobeads are added to the
contaminated water and shook well for
some time.
The magnetic properties allow them to
attract impurities. By using a simple
commercial magnet the particles along
with the impurities can be removed from
water. The entire process takes about
five to ten minutes.
 Conventional water filtration membranes
are based on the principle that the small

Addition of turbo beads pores in the filters allow only water to

pass through. However, for effective
filtration, pressure needs to be applied to
push the water through pores.

NanoH2O uses the concept of

hydrophily. Filtration membranes are
provided with zeolite nanoparticles. This
After 5 minutes makes the membranes hydrophilic and
water is attracted to it. The water gushes
The water obtained is available for through the filter even without
drinking purposes. The method can application of external pressure.
remove all kinds of impurities including
toxic metals and organic matter.

Another approach to water purification

is use of nano-filters. Nano-filters are an
improvisation of conventional water
filtration techniques.
NanoH2O – zeolite
particles in
By use in desalination industries,
membrane
NanoH2O promises a 20% reduction in
energy requirements and 70% increase
in productivity.
Virus filters Carbon Nanotubes

Scientists at the Pohang University of

Science Technology, South Korea have
developed a new nanoporous membrane.
This membrane is capable of filtering
viruses. These membranes have a pore
size of 17nm and are 160nm thick.
These extremely small pores allow only
water to pass through. Their fabrication

Magnified view of carbon nanotubes

Virus filter – magnified view

is simple as it involves self assembly.

The latest technology relating to water
purification via nanotechnology is the
However they have to be combined with
use of carbon nanotubes.
micro porous filters for effective
filtration. This is because they lack in
Scientists at the Bhabha Atomic
mechanical strength. Due their thin-ness
Research Centre have introduced the use
they can not tolerate a pressure greater
of carbon nanotubes for water
than 4 bar. However with micro porous
purification. They have developed single
membranes they are very efficient and
walled nanostructured tubes made of
strong enough.
carbon fullerenes. These hollow tubes
are one billionth the thickness of normal pathogens. In fact, it has been found that
human hair. these tubes have the ability to render
bacteria inactive.
Single walled carbon nanotubes, or
SWCNTs, have very special properties.
Studies have shown that the behaviour of
water inside the tubes is different from
that outside the tubes. This property is
boggling the minds of scientists as they
try to find a reason for such behaviour.

Difference in water behaviour inside and

outside the tube
Structure of a single CNT

The small pore size of carbon nanotubes

and its special properties makes them
very effective filters for removing
impurities like arsenic, fluorides, heavy
metals, organic chemicals and biological
CSIRO filters

Scientists at CSIRO have developed a

filter that mimics nature. This
biomimicry filtration process is an
effective way to purified water. The
pores of the membrane are structured
similar to the pores in the membranes of
animal cells. These pores have an
hourglass shape. Only selected particles
(water molecules in this case) can pass
through these filters while all other
particles and molecules cannot.
 Applications

Industries like Argonamide are

manufacturing water purifiers based on
some of the above techniques. KX
Industries have come up with the
‘Matrikx’ water purifier.
A new device, the Trisep uses a spiral
column of carbon nanotubes to purify
water. In Mery-sur Oise, north of Paris, a
large scale water purifier has been set up
that works on nanotechnology. It purifies
Trisep with its inventor, Hans Thomassen
contaminated river water, providing
constant supply of drinking water for the
city.
Arnuad Douveneau with his large scale
water purifier in Mery-sur Oise