ABSTRACT
Nanomaterials have been increasingly adopted for several applications of industrial importance including water treatment and environmental remediation. At present among all water treatment methods, membrane-based separation processes are greatly acknowledged for their high efficiency and ease of operation. On the other hand, nanomaterial-based water treatment technologies are gaining importance due to their adsorption and photo-degradation capabilities. Various research groups have already designed and tested nanomaterial-based water treatment devices for various types of contamination removal. They have extensively studied high-performance nanomaterials and nanocomposites which comprise carbonaceous nanomaterials, biopolymers and proteinaceous material-based nanomaterials. Such materials have shown robust adsorption and degradation efficiencies for different conventional and emerging pollutants in wastewater. This chapter gives a detailed description of nanomaterial-based water treatment techniques. In particular, the chapter highlights the development of simple and scalable nanomaterial-based water filters and their limitations that restrict state-of-the-art, nanocomposite-based, emerging pollutant treatment devices from attaining commercial success.
