Westerhoff Paul, Alvarez Pedro J J, Kim Jaehong, Li Qilin, Alabastri Alessandro, Halas Naomi J, Villagran Dino, Zimmerman Julie, Wong Michael S
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-3005, United States.
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Rice University, Houston, TX 77005.
Curr Opin Chem Eng. 2021 Sep;33. doi: 10.1016/j.coche.2021.100709. Epub 2021 Jul 28.
Clean water is critical for drinking, industrial processes, and aquatic organisms. Existing water treatment and infrastructure are chemically-intensive and based on nearly century-old technologies that fail to meet modern large and decentralized communities. The next-generation of water processes can transition from outdated technologies by utilizing nanomaterials to harness energy from across the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling electrified and solar-based technologies. The last decade was marked by tremendous improvements in nanomaterial design, synthesis, characterization, and assessment of material properties. Realizing the benefits of these advances requires placing greater attention on embedding nanomaterials onto and into surfaces within reactors and applying external energy sources. This will allow nanomaterial-based processes to replace Victorian-aged, chemical intensive water treatment technologies.
清洁水对于饮用、工业生产过程和水生生物至关重要。现有的水处理及基础设施化学投入大，且基于近百年历史的技术，无法满足现代大型和分散社区的需求。下一代水处理工艺可以通过利用纳米材料从整个电磁光谱中获取能量，从而摆脱过时技术，实现电气化和太阳能技术。过去十年，纳米材料的设计、合成、表征及材料性能评估取得了巨大进展。要实现这些进展的益处，需要更加关注将纳米材料嵌入反应器内部和表面，并应用外部能源。这将使基于纳米材料的工艺取代维多利亚时代的、化学投入大的水处理技术。
