Nanomaterials for Water Remediation: Synthesis, Application and Environmental Fate

World Health Organization estimates that almost 1 billion people in the world have no access to potable water and that 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation (World Health Organization (WHO), in Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target: a mid-term assessment of progress/WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 2004). The high level of quality required to make possible the utilization of reclaimed water to fill this lack of resource leads into the necessity of adapting conventional treatment schemes to more restrictive requirements. Nanotechnology processes could represent one of the most useful options for the achievement of this goal. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) defined nanotechnology as “the understanding and control of matter at dimension between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers (nm), where unique phenomena enable novel application not feasible when working with bulk materials or even single atoms or molecules”. The knowledge achieved in this field offers the possibility of using novel material in the treatment of surface water, groundwater and wastewater especially for the removal of heavy metals, organic and inorganic solutes and microorganism. Due to the generally new ambit of research, the scientific community is actively involved in the development of new strategies and novel nanomaterials synthesis. Thousands of scientific articles related to nanotechnology applications in water sanitation have been published in the last decade. On the basis of their function, nanomaterials can be easily classified as: nanosorbents, nanocatalysts and redox active nanoparticles, nanostructured and reactive membranes, bioactive nanoparticles. Literature about current research on nanomaterials, methods of synthesis and characterization are reviewed in this chapter. Moreover, possible environmental impacts related with their application are also commented.