Nanotechnology and water pollutants removal

Researches have been shown if water and wastewater treatment systems properly managed, it provides a major part of water reservoirs for the needs of developing countries. Because of the uncontrolled increase in concentrations of fine particle materials, organic and inorganic compounds and especially heavy metals in water, the conventional methods of treatment is not able to remove contaminants and it require a relatively new process. Recently, removal processes of industrial and agricultural wastewater pollutants have improved by development of new technologies such as nanotechnology. This study reviews the application of nanotechnology innovations for removing pollutants from waste water which published in this area from 2000-2013. We have searched through internet by following keywords; Application of nanotechnology, nanothechnology and wastewater treatment, and nanofiltration. Extensive studies have been evaluated to obtain low-cost and environmentally friendly adsorbents. Most of researchers used nanomaterials due to the high specific area and unique chemical properties for removing contaminates from aqueous media directly or after modification and functionalization. They used nano-filtration, nano-photocatalysts, zero-valent iron nano-particles and magnetic nanoparticles to control and remove pollutants from water and wastewaters. According to the capabilities and high capacity of nano-sized practices, they introduced them as a superior technology. Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, due to easy separation with a magnet, have been considered for removing pollutants as an effective and efficient process. Based on these considerations, nanotechnology can efficiently affect the cost and time of treatment process and is suggested instead of conventional process for treatment of water and waste waters.