10.1016@j.biortech.2020.124394

Journal Pre-proofs
Emerging nano-structured innovative materials as adsorbents in wastewater

treatment
Sivasubramanian Manikandan, Natchimuthu Karmegam, Ramasamy

Subbaiya, Guruviah Karthiga Devi, Ramaswamy Arulvel, Balasubramani
Ravindran, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi
PII: S0960-8524(20)31668-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124394
Reference: BITE 124394
To appear in: Bioresource Technology
Received Date: 4 October 2020

Revised Date: 31 October 2020
Accepted Date: 5 November 2020
Please cite this article as: Manikandan, S., Karmegam, N., Subbaiya, R., Karthiga Devi, G., Arulvel, R.,
Ravindran, B., Kumar Awasthi, M., Emerging nano-structured innovative materials as adsorbents in wastewater
treatment, Bioresource Technology (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124394
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Emerging nano-structured innovative materials as adsorbents in
wastewater treatment
Sivasubramanian Manikandanb, Natchimuthu Karmegamc, Ramasamy Subbaiyad, Guruviah
Karthiga Devib, Ramaswamy Arulvelb, Balasubramani Ravindrane, Mukesh Kumar Awasthia*

aCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Taicheng Road
3#, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China

bDepartment of Biotechnology, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of
Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha Nagar, Thandalam, Chennai – 602 105,
Tamil Nadu, India

cDepartment of Botany, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem 636 007, Tamil
Nadu, India
dDepartment of Biological Sciences, School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, The
Copperbelt University, Riverside, Jambo Drive, P O Box 21692, Kitwe, Zambia

eDepartment of Environmental Energy and Engineering, Kyonggi University, Youngtong –
Gu, Suwon, 16227, South Korea
* Corresponding author:
Dr. Mukesh Kumar Awasthi
College of Natural Resources and Environment,
Northwest A&F University, Taicheng Road 3#,
Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
E-mail: mukesh_awasthi45@yahoo.com
1
Abstract
Water supply around the globe is struggling to meet the rapidly increasing demand by the
population, drastic changes in climate and degrading water quality. Even though, many large-
scale methods are employed for wastewater treatment they display several negative impacts
owing to the presence of pollutants. Technological innovation is required for integrated water
management with different groups of nanomaterials for the removal of toxic metal ions,
microbial disease, organic and inorganic solutes. The method of manipulating atoms on a
nanoscale is nanotechnology. Nanomembranes are used in nanotechnology to soften water
and eliminate physical, chemical and biological pollutants. The present review concentrates
on various nanotechnological approaches in wastewater remedy, mechanisms involved to
promote implementation, benefits and limitations in comparison with current processes,
properties, barriers and commercialization research needs. Also the review identifies
opportunities for further exploiting the exclusive features for green water management by
following the advances in nanotechnology.
Keywords: Adsorbents; Carbon nanotubes; Heavy metals; Nanomaterials; Sewage.
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1. Introduction
For all life on earth, water is the most important material and a vital resource for
human civilization (Morrison et al., 2020; Rubilar et al., 2020). Trustworthy access to safe
and available water is one of the fundamental priorities for the 21st century and remains a
significant challenge world-wide. Nevertheless, supply of safe potable water has, because of
significant water contamination, become a global concern today (Acharya et al., 2020; Ponce-
Rodríguez et al., 2020). The United Nations has reported that more people have died from
any sort of violence including war, aggression, destruction, and mortality, although more
people have died from tainted water relative to war and violence (WHO/UNICEF, 2000).
Regarding the imminent global water crisis, Nature highlights in its website that “things in
the world are becoming worse and more than one trillion people lack access to clean water
(Edokpayi et al., 2020; Jiang et al., 2019). The estimated supply of water per person over the
next two decades is down by one third, likely leading to premature deaths for many millions
of people (Rieu-Clarke et al., 2015).
Organic, inorganic and biological water pollutants originating from different sources
can be present (Cheng et al., 2020; Haq et al., 2020; Li et al., 2020; Mandeep et al., 2020; Z.
Yu et al., 2020). Some chemicals are harmful and carcinogenic and cause harm to humans
and ecosystems (Rahman, 2020). Recent studies reveal that the contamination and toxicity of
microplastics in marine water leading to their existence in marine salts of human use
(Sivagami et al., 2020). At the same time, the heavy metals are notorious highly toxic water
contaminants (Liu et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2020). Arsenic is one of the most lethal
components, well-known from the old days. Certain heavy metals of extremely hazardous
water contaminants include cadmium, chromium, arsenic, plum, zinc, nickel, copper, etc.,
and their remediation is becoming complicated due to the complexity of contaminants (Leong
and Chang, 2020; Qi et al., 2015; Rahman, 2020; Sajid et al., 2018). At high concentrations,
3
chromates, NO3-, SO42-, PO³, F-, Cl-, Se2- and oxalates have hazardous consequences; ions of
these also modify the smell of mud. For example, fluorosis is caused by enhanced levels of
fluoride in the water (Nasr et al., 2013; Udhayakumar et al., 2016). Toxicity is associated
with various types of contaminants, including those of chemical fertilizers, different forms of
pesticides, plasticisers, petrochemical products, phenols and biphenyls, detergents, oils and
greases (Terrado et al., 2010; Xing et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2020). In freshwater
environments worldwide, pharmaceutical products and personal care products (PPCPs) are
prevalent and are regarded as pollutants of significance. Currently, their persistence,
bioaccumulation and toxicity levels as pollutants are concerned. PPCPs are not classified as
persistent organic pollutants (POPs), whereas PPCPs have characteristic similar to POPs (Li
et al., 2018; Sharma et al., 2019). Drugs and veterinary medicinal products for the prevention
or treatment of human and animal disease are known as prescription, while PCP (personnel-
care products) is primarily used to improve everyday living standards. In recent years, the
involuntary presence of PPCPs in different aquatic compartments (such as water, sediments
and biota) in amounts that can have adverse effects on aquatic organisms has become
common. This is a major concern because PPCPs are increasingly commonly used, resulting
in their continuous release into the environment, in human and veterinary medical devices.
The concentration of PPCP concentration in water ranges from mg/L up to μg/L. For this
reason, customary water treatment processes provide substandard results, since the processing
provisions are ill-prepared to eliminate stable low-levels of pollutants. The emerging organic
contaminants, PPCPs, antibiotic resistance genes, nitrogen, steroids and pesticides are
increasing at an alarming rate which poses the scientific community to develop suitable and
feasible alternate methods (Asif et al., 2018; M. Chen et al., 2020; García et al., 2020; Sun et
al., 2019).
4
Nanotechnology's recent success provides leapfrogging incentives to build water
supply networks of the next decade. The present water treatment systems have no more
sustainability, distribution and disposal methods, which depend heavily on transport and
central systems (Jiang et al., 2013). The nanotechnology-capable processes are highly
efficient, modular, and multifunctional, which provide affordable solutions for water
treatment and wastewater treatment that depend the least on key infrastructures (Deshpande
et al., 2020; Olvera et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2019). The water and wastewater treatment
processing system with nanotechnology promises not only to solve major challenges with
current therapies but also to deliver a new therapy capability which could enable emerging
water sources to be used efficiently and increase water supply which has been schematically
explained in Fig. 1.
Here is a summary of recent developments in water and wastewater treatment
nanotechnologies. Large nanomaterial technologies are objectively studied on the basis of
their unit activity functions. The challenges to their systematic implementation and the need
for work to address these challenges are also addressed. This analysis will not take into
account the potential consequence of nano-based materials on the environment and public
health or any possible disturbance in treatment processes and will therefore not be explored in
depth (De La Cueva Bueno et al., 2017; Kamali et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019). Several
nanomaterial types which could be used in water rehabilitation are mentioned, such as
zeolites, polymer and metal nanoparticles, and Carbon-based nanomaterials (CbN)
(Madannejad et al., 2019; Vedhanayagam et al., 2019), mesoporous supporting self-
assembled monolayers (SAMMS) (Yantasee et al., 2004), biopolymers, iron nanoparts and
nanoscale photo catalysts in semiconductors. Many nanotechnological pathways have so far
been developed for wastewater treatment. Within the following broad categories, among the
most commonly used techniques can be classified:
5
a. Nanotechnology focused on adsorption of waste and toxic materials.
b. Technology focused on nanomembranes for wastewater treatment.
c. Technology based on antimicrobial nanomaterials to destroy pathogens in treated water.
d. Nano-catalyst-based photocatalysis is a very promising approach for the treatment of
polluted water.
e. Sensing and control equipment for wastewater treatment.
The various types of water treatment approaches have been discussed in the following
sections of the review paper. A brief overview of the existing problems in the use of nano-
based technologies and their potential risks has been provided.
2. Existing and future uses for treating sewage and wastewater
Nanomaterials are generally classified in a minimum of one dimension as materials
smaller than 100 nm (Chhabra and Kumar, 2020, 2019). Products at this scale also possess
different dimension-dependent properties, many of which were studied in the treatment of
wastewater and water. Many devices use the smoothly scalable nanomaterial properties of
larger surface areas, including rapid disintegration, heavy sorption and high reactivity. Other
benefits of their discontinuous properties have been superparamagnetism, localised
plasmoplasm resonation, and quantum containment.
Four main groups can be considered to be the most widely used nanomaterials:
a. Carbon-dependent nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.
b. Metal-based nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.
c. Polymer-based nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.
d. Zeolites: Zeolites and its composites in wastewater treatment.
Each of these groups of nano-adsorbents are discussed in the following section
briefly.
6
2.1. Organic waste replacement of carbon nano-adsorbents
Adsorption is widely used as a finishing step in the treatment of water and wastewater
to eliminate pollutants of organic and inorganic nature (Kadam et al., 2019; Kalaitzidou et al.,
2020; J. Wang et al., 2020). Conventional adsorbents typically have a weakness in their
effectiveness by the surface or active sites, inadequacy of selectivity and adsorption kinetics.
With its exceptionally accurate surface and associated sorption sites, fast intra-particle
diffusion distance and pore size and surface chemical tuning, nano-sorbents give substantial
improvement (Gallo-Cordova et al., 2020; Kgatitsoe et al., 2019; Moharrami and Motamedi,
2020; Nouri et al., 2020).
Nanomaterials have suitable surface modification scopes. Organic ligands allow the
binding of metal ions with that of nanomaterials or any other specific contaminants from
water. A large number of Nano structuring resources for use with adsorption of pollutants
have been reported in the literature for use in wastewater treatment. Checked for the removal
of metal ions and water teeth molecules from modified carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide and
nanocomposite Graphene-Fe3O4 (Raghu et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018). The core
nanoparticles from Fe3O4 / C, amino and hydroxyl gel, many silica-based adsorbents have
been identified, such as SBA-15 amino-functionalized (Betiha et al., 2020; Fiorilli et al.,
2017; Zhang et al., 2018), magnetic mesoporous silica (Jaafar et al., 2019), mesoporous
multiamine grafting silica, amino-functionalized silica and synthetic gel loops, amino-
functionalized, EDTA-functional, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and silica gel for effective
heavy metal ion adsorption from water. Magnetic nanoparticles and their composition are
also the perfect absorbers of water pollutants (organic and inorganic). It can be easily
separated by a simple adsorption bar magnet, which helps you to resolve other adsorbents.
2.2. Nanoparticles for heavy metal ions removal
7
The oxidized carbon nanotubes are highly adsorbed to high kinetic metal ions. Carbon
nanotube surfaces are the most important functional surfaces (e.g. carboxyl, hydroxyl and
phenol) predominantly through electrostatic appeal and chemical bonding. Significantly, it
increases the potential of carbon nanotubes adsorption through surface oxidation (Adelabu et
al., 2020; Hayati et al., 2017). Several studies have shown better adsorbtion of heavy metals
with carbon nanotubes than activated carbon (for example Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+, for
example); the kinetics of adsorption on carbon nanotubes are rapid because of the extremely
accessible sites for adsorption and the close range between intraparticles (Chandrashekhar
Nayak et al., 2020; Z. Liu et al., 2020; Verma and Balomajumder, 2020).
Generally, carbon nanotubes as broad spectrum adsorbents might not be a right choice
with reference to the activated carbon. These may also have unique applications for polishing
measures in order to eliminate recalcitrant compounds or organic contaminants in trace for
analytical grounds, as the surface chemistry could possibly be tailored towards different
contaminants. Limited amounts of materials are required for these applications and therefore
are less prone to costs. Among the adsorbents, graphite oxide is cheap alternative which is
developed from exfoliating graphite with strong acids and oxidizers (Avetta et al., 2015). It
has been recently stated that graphite oxide-coated sand granules were effective in Hg2+
removal and a bulky Rhodamine B (colouration molecule).
2.3. Nanoparticles as cheap adsorbents for radionuclides and toxic heavy metals
Surface oxidized carbon nanotubes with H2O2, KMnO4 and HNO3 are used to extract
Cd2+ from aquatic solutions (Slobodian et al., 2013). The elevated adsorption capabilities
towards the ions of metals consisting quicker kinetics may result from the oxidation of carbon
nanotubes. Oxidized carbon nanotubes surfaces contain functional groups including
carboxylic, hydroxyl and carbonyl acid. Such groups have strong heavy metal ions adsorption
potential as long as the pH of oxidized carbon nanotubes is above the isoelectric level.
8
Several studies have shown that the carbon nanotubes adsorb heavy metal ions with very
strong nanomaterials, including Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+ (Abukhadra et al., 2019; Hayati et
al., 2017, 2016; Xu et al., 2018). A carbon nanotube sponge with a boron dash showed a very
good water oil adsorbing ability. Such sponges are reusable once oil is drained and pledge to
prevent oil spills for oil recovery.
3. Nano membranes and membrane systems for treatment of wastewater
Water treatment is mainly aimed at eliminating undesired components from water.
Regardless of their thickness, the membranes form a physical obstacle to new sources of
water to these constituents. These offer a considerable degree of automation which requires
reduced land area in which the chemical intake is the major part of water treatment and reuse
and a modular design allows for scalable design. The intrinsic jeopardize between the
selectivity and permeability of membranes is a major problem in membrane technology. A
main obstacle to the broad utilization of pressurized processes with membranes is the
consumption of lots of energy. The fouling of membrane increases the energy consumption,
process design and operation complexity. This in turn reduces the life of membranes and
membrane modules. The membrane material is the sole factor which determines the
performance of the systems to a greater extent. An excellent opportunity to improve
membrane permeability, fouling resistance, mechanical and thermal stability is offered by the
incorporation of functional nanomaterials as membranes (Lu and Astruc, 2020;
Rassoulinejad-Mousavi et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2020).
According to the mode of porosity, structure and application, membranes are
classified into different forms, such as nano-filtration membranes (Ang et al., 2020; Himstedt
et al., 2019; Nawaz et al., 2021), nanocomposite membranes (Alammar et al., 2020;
Moharrami and Motamedi, 2020; Salazar et al., 2020; Valamohammadi et al., 2020), self-
assembly membranes (C. Chen et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2019; Yong Wu et al., 2020; Xiao et
9
al., 2020), thin film composites (Karami et al., 2020; Mollahosseini and Abdelrasoul, 2019),
aquaporin-based membranes (Balkenov et al., 2020; Li et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020),
biological membranes (Saleh et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2018), and reverse osmosis membranes
(Couto et al., 2020; Vinardell et al., 2020; W. Wu et al., 2020). They are divisible into several
forms of membranes. The preparation and application of wastewater treatment of various
forms of membranes are dealt in the following section. Nanofiltration is a pressurized process
in which unclean water flows through a thin polymers containing pores 1 to 10 nm in length,
separating the contaminants larger than the pores from the water. Dissolving of dissolved
solids, organic matter and water versatile cations by nanofiltration is beneficial.
Nanofiltration membrane is used most frequently for suppressing water, because Ca and Mg
ions have been captured, while monovalent ions can pass through the water in a hydrated
way. Nano filtration membranes are used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries for
solvent recovery. They are also used for purification of gas condensates in petrochemical
industries. For the extraction of amino acids and lipids from cell cultures in the field of life
sciences, the nanofiltration membranes are highly useful (Esteves et al., 2020). The nano
membranes and their optimistic characteristics have been detailed in Table 1.
Various techniques have been developed to produce and modify the surface of
filtration membranes (Werner et al., 2018). A thin, composite nano-filtered membrane film
was deployed by Yang and his colleagues on an ultra-filtration substrict through an interlayer
of polydopamine polyethyleneeminic deposition (Yang et al., 2017). Such membranes show
that Na2SO4 is eliminated by 97% and Na2SO4 salt rejection order by MgSO4 and
MgCl2.NaCl.
It is very useful to extract ions like Na, K and reverse osmosis (RO) chloride.
Consequently, it is considered extensive applications in marine desalination. In the last
several decades considerable efforts were made to develop cheap membrane filtration
10
technologies with high efficiency for desalination. Most industrial RO membranes in use are
thin film composite structures in which the polyamide layer on top of the microporous
support membrane is shielded. The selectivity of permeation is controlled efficiently by the
polyamide films. However, the efficiency of their membrane fouling decreases over time due
to organic matter accumulation and pores in microbes. Chlorine-assisted oxidative
degradation often also degrades membranes (Y. Wang et al., 2020). In addition, the most
common practice is to modify the membrane through grafting / covering it by using suitable
functional groups to overcome these problems (Nadizadeh and Mahdavi, 2021).
The inclusion of nano-composite materials into the production of new membrane
materials has also been reported (Al-Najar et al., 2020). Graphene oxide (GO) has been
shown to be a two-functional protective cap to increase both anti-fouling membrane and
resistance against chlorine, whilst retaining its efficiency in separation. In recent years, much
emphasis has been put on the use of functional carbon nanotubes in Composite RO
membranes. A very interesting study shows that the flow of water and the salt rejection can
be greatly improved through the incorporation of the polyamide membrane as zwitterion-
friendly nanotubes. The polyamide-RO membranes have functional carbon nanotubes for
higher water streams. Furthermore, the carbon nanotubes loaded membranes were more
robust and chemically resistant when compared with plain membranes. The advantages of
using composite membranes can be due to the hydrophobic nanotubes, which are formed
from uniform interactions between the carbon nanotubes and polyamide within active levels
via the nanotubes of carbon and their membrane homogeneity. Biochar adsorption technology
in wastewater treatment is currently being steadily introduced (Chen et al., 2011; Jung and
Ahn, 2016; Yao et al., 2019; Zubair et al., 2020). Biochar is known to adsorb standard animal
wastewater pollutants such as organic pollutants, heavy metals, nitrogen and phosphorus
(Xiang et al., 2020; Zhuang et al., 2020; Zubair et al., 2020). However, nano-composites
11
based on bio-char in wastewater remediation is found to be effective (Tan et al., 2016; Yang
et al., 2019) and much attention is required for the efficient utility of such nanocomposites.
Mixed-matrix reverse osmosis membranes, commercially available, are used where
polyamide film-embedded super hydrophilic nanoparticles are used for the repulsion of
microorganisms, solutes and impurities. Nanosilver and titanium dioxide coating are
normally used on composite RO membranes for the prevention of fouling of organic
pollutants by oxidative degradation. Membrane modifications have been recently developed
with biomolecules, such as protein, to boost selectivity. Copolymer block membranes that are
self-assembling were also tested for ultra-filtration and found to be more selective and
permeable. The use of polymer nanofibers and electro-spinning ceramics is another
significant class of membranes. The high water flow in nanofiber-based membranes is
imparted via an optimized thickness of the polymers' membrane. The bio nanofiber
membranes are also designed to achieve a higher antipollination property for polylactic acid,
polyurethane and polyethylene oxide. There are considered to be greater selectivity and
higher water flow in biomimetic membranes. The aquaporin inside this membrane is greatly
efficient in desalination of the marine water, for example, the polymer-built vesicle-
supporting aquaporin-based Nano filtering membrane.
3.1. Nanofiber diaphragms in wastewater treatment
The processing of ultra-finely nanofibres with different materials (e.g. polymers,
ceramics or meme metals) is simpler, effective, and cheaper than the other metallic and
composite nanomaterials in wastewater treatment. It produces highly unique porosities and
nanosurfaces forming matte, porous structured nanofibers. Electro spun nanofibers can be
easily tailored to particular applications by diameter, composition, secondary structure,
morphology and spatial alignment. While nanofiber membranes are used on the market for air
filters, their water treatment capacity remains largely untapped. Nanofiber membranes are
12
able to extract particles of micron size from the watery process at a high reject rate without
significant failure. Therefore, before ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis (RO), pre-treatment is
recommended.
Functional nanomaterials can easily be doped into the spinning solutions for the
manufacture or on-site creation of nanoparticles. The exceptional features and adjustable
characteristics create electrofiber an ideal medium for the construction of multifunctional
media / membrane filters by means of inherent materials like TiO2 and MgO with multiple
functions (Pourrahim et al., 2020) or using nanofibers with their functional materials. The
integrated nanomaterials made up of ceramics or unique captive materials into a nanofiber,
for instance, allowing the removal of heavy metals and organic contaminants in the course of
filtration can be carried out by affinity nanofiber (Park et al., 2020).
3.2. Biologically based membranes and thin film nanocomposite
The selectivity and permeability of biological membranes are very high, and the
protein channels in Aquaporins are the controlling factors of cell membrane water flow, and
they play a vital role in contaminant removal (Chang et al., 2019; Luo et al., 2018). Its high
selectivity and water permeability make an appealing approach to improving membrane
efficiency in polymer membranes. The Escherichia coli aquaporin Z when introduced to the
amphiphilic triblock water permeability polymer vesicles over the initial vesicles with
minimum glucose, glycerol, salt, and urea rejection at least in an order of magnitudes. One of
the future designs is to coat the lipid bilayers embedded in aquaporin on industrial Nano
filtration membranes. The list of polymers and biopolymers for their solubility,
hydrophobicity, stable mechanics and chemical stability is given in Table 2.
The atomic sweetening design of the nano-sized channel and a single-file ordering of
molecules of water via the nanotubes have shown that aligned carbon nanotubes provide
water permeation much quicker than the Hagene Poiseuille Equation predicted. It was
13
expected to have fluxes above existing commercial RO marine membranes in a membrane
containing just 0.03 percent surface area of associated carbon nanotubes. However, because
of the lack of carbon nanotubes with a uniformly sub-nanometer diameter, high refusal of salt
or smaller molecules is difficult for aligned carbon nanotubes membranes. In order to boost
selectivity of aligning carbon nanotubes membranes, functional group gating on the opening
nanotube was proposed. The ninety eight percent rejection of Fe(CN6)3- was achieved with
low ionic strength by Donnan exclusion, by grafting carboxyl functional groups with a carbon
nanotubes substratum of 2 nm. KCl rejection at 0.3mm, however, decreased to nearly null at
10mM, was just 50 percent. Salt can physically be removed by grabbing bulky functional
groups on the tube opening. Yet steric exclusion decreases permeability considerably.
Therefore, compatible carbon nanotubes membranes cannot be desalinated at the current
level. The diameter of the carbon nanotubes needs to be consistently <0.8 nm to achieve
effective salt rejection.
The nanomaterial development in large scale and membrane development is a
significant hurdle for aquaporin and aligned carbon nanotubes membranes. Aquaporin’s are
very demanding in large-scale processing and purification. Currently the most usual method
to create aligned nanotubes is chemical vapour deposition (CVD) (Abdullah et al., 2020;
Maruyama et al., 2020). A CVD prototype with high-performance has been developed for the
production of carbon nanotubes in vertical alignment that paves the route for the scale-up
production. A magnetic field alignment system was also developed for post-manufacturing.
The membranes of nanocomposites and TFNs are highly versatile can be produced from
existing industrial production processes. The high degree permeability of water can reduce
the pressures or the required surface of the membrane. This technique could significantly
increase the energy efficiency of low osmosis pressure water treatment. Nonetheless, it may
have a minimal gain in RO seawater, which already has a thermodynamic cap energy
14
consumption. A recent study evaluated existing nanotechnology membranes based on their
future performance improvement and market readiness.
4. Disinfection and microbial prevention nanotechnology
The challenge for the water industry is to deal with this problem between efficient
disinfection and toxic disinfection by products (DBPs) (Mazhar et al., 2020; Srivastav et al.,
2020; Tang et al., 2020). Conventional disinfectants like chloride and ozone are now well
known to form toxic DBP (i.e. halogenated by products of the disinfection, cancer-infective
nitrosamines, bromate, etc.), they are widely recognized. As an alternative to oxidative
disinfection, UV disinfection has grown as a minimum in DBPs. Such limitations promote
the creation of substituting methods to enhance the disinfection robustness while preventing
the formulation of DBP.
Nanomaterials are also less likely to induce DBPs without heavy oxidation, such as
silver, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, carbon nanotubes, cerium oxide, and fullerenes. This
review article gives careful consideration to the antimicrobial methods of these
nanomaterials, their advantages, disadvantages, usefulness and important research
requirements for water treatment (Kidd et al., 2020; Rienzie et al., 2020; Sagir et al., 2020;
Verma et al., 2020).
The optimal disinfectant has the following properties,
 Highly high ambient temperatures antimicrobial activity in short time (Zhang et al.,
2021);
 During and after use of harmful sub-products cannot be produced (Hossain et al.,
2014);
 may not impact the wellbeing of humans (Mazhar et al., 2020);
 For the intended usage apply inexpensively and easily (Hossain et al., 2014);
15
 Simple to transport, highly water soluble and not corrosive for any appliance or
surface (Deshmukh et al., 2019);
 Convenient for safe disposal (Mazhar et al., 2020).
Nanomaterials have antimicrobial properties that have lower propensity to form DBPs
without major oxidation.
4.1. Mechanisms of nanoparticles based antimicrobial agents and possible uses in water
treatment
Researchers have been paying great attention to nanoparticles and nanocomposites
because of their unique features, including high contaminant adsorption power, excellent
photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity. Nanoparticles disable microbial pathogens by
presenting wide variety of antimicrobial mechanisms. Nanoparticles also extract inorganic
and organic pollutants from wastewater and demonstrate their potential application in the
management of wastewater. A list of nano-based antimicrobial agents and potential uses for
water treatment has been elaborated in Table 3.
Titanium dioxide is an extremely common nanoparticle type in potable water, surface
water, drinking water and other water resources to inactive microbes. Titanium dioxide's
antibacterial function is due to the generation of reactive oxygen species. The created ROS
can kill the cytoplasmic membrane, damage protein and DNA, release of dangerous ions,
interrupt the flow of electrons, and interfere with respiratory functioning. High UV-A
absorbance of titanium dioxide activation by solar radiation, substantially increasing solar
disinfection. Solar disinfection based on titanium dioxide is a very sluggish method which
can be a low proportion of UV-A in sunlight. Flourishing works in doping with metals or
nitrogen is crucial for application of Titanium dioxide solar disinfection to enhance visible
light absorption of Titanium dioxide or UV-A (Gao et al., 2019; Hassan et al., 2019; W.
16
Wang et al., 2020). Titanium dioxide nanomaterial also demonstrated bacterial death in the
dark, suggesting the possibility of certain unknown mechanisms.
Since ancient times, Silver is known for its antimicrobial influence. The use of silver
nanoparticles in medical services and external medicine is diverse in the industrial
applications. Silver nanoparticles have been used as an antifungal nanomaterial in recent
years. The substance they use to decontaminate water is the following: effective and wide-
ranging antimicrobial activity, health and manufacturing (Albukhari et al., 2019; Kumar et
al., 2020; Metreveli et al., 2020; Najafpoor et al., 2020; Sherin et al., 2020). Through water
binding to −SH groups, the Nano silver absorbs ions from silver into and destroys essential
enzymes. Silver nanoparticle toxicity depends on the rate of silver ion discharge. The shape,
size, padding and crystallographic facets affect silver ion release. The presence of
omnipresent ligands increases their bioavailability and their toxicity. Silver nanoparticles
have been used as a shield for pathogens in ceramic micro filters that can be used in
developing countries.
Because of the high UV absorption ability and transparentness to visible light, Zinc
oxide nanoparticles were used in sunscreen lotions, paints and coatings. Zinc oxide
nanoparticles show excellent antibacterial activity in a wide range of bacteria. Nevertheless,
because the researchers have obtained opposite findings, for instance, the antibacterial
function of Zinc oxide nanoparticles has not been apparent. The explanation has been
suggested for the photocatalytic production of H2O2 for antimicrobial Zinc oxide action.
While nanoparticles of Zinc oxide and Zn+2 display antibacterial activity, water organisms
may be very vulnerable to dissolved zinc (Kyeong Hee et al., 2019; Mirgane et al., 2020;
Shkir et al., 2020; Sultana et al., 2020). Due to the ease of its dissolution, zinc oxide
nanoparticles are limited in the treatment of drinking water.
4.2. Sensing and tracking nanotechnologies in water treatment
17
A large number of sensors based on nanotechnology were used to detect various
biological and chemical species in the area. Nano-sensors are also used for trace
contaminants and to control the rates of microbial and bacterial infections in wastewater
treatment (Liu et al., 2020; Ramezani et al., 2020). From a protection point of view, it is
extremely important to sense and track these in-water toxic entities (Abubaker et al., 2019;
Graboski et al., 2020; S. Zhang et al., 2020). This is a very difficult and exciting field of
research because very specific techniques are needed in order to detect minute amounts of
inorganic, biological and organic pollutants in the water.
The detection of pathogenic microbes in water bodies is an important step in order to
ensure proper public health. In order to take adequate control steps, the identification of
contaminating organisms is also important. Conventional markers of pathogens were not
extremely successful and certain lethal viruses, bacteria and minerals have not been detected.
New sensing and tracking technologies based on nano-materials have also started to develop
over the last 10 years. Worldwide researchers have made enormous efforts to synthesize
highly effective pathogen detecting nanostructured materials. Generally, nanomaterial-based
pathogens are functionalized to enable selective identification of targeting entities using
appropriate molecules, such as carbohydrates, aptamers, antimicrobial peptides and
antibodies. With their particular electrical, magnetic properties, people have been sensitive to
microbial cells and other biomolecules found in water which has been sensitive to these
materials. Nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, magnetic nanoparticles,
dye doped and noble metals have been thoroughly investigated for pathogens identification.
Quantum dots have a high sensing ability since their optical properties can be easily targeted.
The level of microbial contamination in water can easily be identified by tracking changes in
the fluorescent spectrum or the phenol-electrochemical activity of quantum dots when
communicating with pathogens and biomolecules. The identification in wastewater of
18
different pathogens is mostly achieved using quantum dots including titanium dioxide, ZnO,
cadmium selenide, ZnSO4 and MgO. Proteins, antibodies and other biomolecules are found to
be useful in altering their surfaces to improve the sensitiveness and selectivity of sensors
based with quantum dots.
Gold nanoparticles are commonly used for detection purposes significantly because of
the resonance effect of surface plasmon depending on their size and shape. For instance, high
sensitivity bacteria (E. coli) are reported for the cysteine-functionalized gold nanoparticles.
Functional silica fluorescent color nanoparticles were also used for sensing applications;
carbon nanotubes have adequate room for electrochemical pathogens, thanks to their high
conductivity, quick surface shift and excellent adsorption capabilities. A biologically
responsive object (for example, proteins, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, oligoes or
polynucleotides, microorganisms, or even entire biological tissues) and a transducer are
required to turn the measurement concentration into other observable signals, sound variants,
currents, absorbance and masses. Owing to the high sensitivity and photo stability, nano-
sensors are beneficial but specificity in most current nano-sensors is a challenge.
5. Conclusions
The potential nanotechnology with unique properties is the perfect candidate for fast
technology growth. Different groups of nanomaterials – metal nanoparticles, carbonic
nanomaterials, zeolites and dendrimers can effectively be used to extract toxic metal ions,
microbial, organic and inorganic solutes from water. Recovered contaminants and depleted
nano-partners remain largely unexplored in risk assessment. Ecological waste management
methods are therefore needed to prevent toxicity hazards. The future in water processing for
nanoparticles is very promising, but a joint effort by academic, natural development projects
and industrial resources is required for quick, economic and useful equipment for water
treatment to be realized.
19
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to The Management of Saveetha School of Engineering
(SIMATS), Chennai, India and The Management, Vice-Chancellor, Dean and Head of
Biological Sciences, The Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia for their constant support to
complete the review article. The Shaanxi Introduced Talent Research Funding
(A279021901), China and The Introduction of Talent Research Start-up fund (No.
Z101021904), College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University,
Yangling, Shaanxi Province 712100, China.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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biomimetic membranes: Pollutants concentrating and membrane fouling
characteristics. Chem. Eng. J. 400, 125938.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.125938
147. Zhang, Z., Cheng, J., Luo, Y., Shi, W., Wang, W., Zhang, B., Zhang, R., Bao, X.,
Guo, Y., Cui, F., 2018. Pt nanoparticles supported on amino-functionalized SBA-15
for enhanced aqueous bromate catalytic reduction. Catal. Commun. 105, 11–15.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2017.11.004
148. Zhuang, H., Zhu, H., Zhang, J., Shan, S., Fang, C., Tang, H., Xie, Q., 2020. Enhanced
2,4,6-trichlorophenol anaerobic degradation by Fe3O4 supported on water hyacinth
biochar for triggering direct interspecies electron transfer and its use in coal
gasification wastewater treatment. Bioresour. Technol. 296, 122306.
149. Zubair, M., Ihsanullah, I., Abdul Aziz, H., Azmier Ahmad, M., Al-Harthi, M.A.,
2020. Sustainable wastewater treatment by biochar/layered double hydroxide
composites: Progress, challenges, and outlook. Bioresour. Technol. 319, 124128.
44
List of Figures:
Fig. 1: Waste water treatment based on nanotechnology.
45
Fig. 1.
List of Tables:
Table 1.
List of nano-membranes of their optimistic characteristics and approaches.
Nano- Characteristics Approaches Water treatment
membranes Optimistic Negotiary Nanomembranes
thickness
Nano-composite Improve Resistant bulk Extremely 4.1 to 49.8 μm2
membranes hydrophobicity, material needed to complex (Wen et al., 2019)
thermal / release potential conditions, such as
mechanical Nanoparticles while micro-pollutant
stability and using oxidizing elimination and
fouling resistance nanomaterial reverse osmosis
Nano-filtration Repulsion Blocking of Heavy metals Zeolite membranes

membranes dependent on load, membrane reduction, odour, (thickness ≈ 3 µm)
low relative (polarization of the colour and (Pendergast and
pressure and high concentration) hardness Hoek, 2011)
selectivity
46
Aquaporin Permeability and Mechanical Desalination under Aquaporin Flat-
based high ionic impairment low pressure Sheet Membrane
membranes resistance (thickness ∼110 μm)
(Xia et al., 2017)
Nano self- Membranes Accessible in small Phase of ultra ∼ 40 μm thick (Feng

assembly designed to fit, amounts (laboratory filtration et al., 2019)
membranes homogenous scale)
nanopores
Nano-fiber High efficiency of Nanofibers may be Stand alone filter, PUR10 is mere 6
membranes permeability, released, pore ultra filtration, μm, nylon 6
customized, blocking possible cartilage filters, nanofiber/cellulose
bactericidal and Water filtering, 205 μm (Fauzi et al.,
porous prefiltration 2020; Jiříček et al.,
2017)
47
Table 2.
List of polymers and biopolymers for their solubility, hydrophobicity, stable mechanics and chemical
stability.
Polymers and Molecular Hydrophilicity Solubility Steady Chemical
bio-polymers weight (g/mol) and mechanics stability
hydrophobicity
Propionate and 1811.7 Hydrophobic In ink Strong point Stable
cellulose acetate solvents of fusion interface
(benzene,
toluene,
etc.)
Polyacrylonitrile 53.0626 ± Hydrophobic In Weniger Strong Has
0.0028 polar tolerance to excellent
solvents temperature chemical
and power stability
PSF/PVP 1600- Hydrophilic Highly Obtained Strong water

5170/2,500 – soluble in good miscibility
2,500,000 water mechanical
stability
Polysulfone 442.52 Hydrophobic Soluble in Obtained Compaction

organic good resistance
solvents for mechanical and high
example stability strength
DMF
SPS/PES 110,000- Hydrophilic Resistance Strong Has

141,000/232.26 to chemicals tolerance to excellent
temperature chemical
and power stability
48
Table 3.
List of Nano-based antimicrobial agents and possible uses in water treatment
Various sources of pollutants Nanomaterials based Pathogens (targeted microorganisms)
contaminating water antimicrobial agents
resources
Municipal pollution: (Water Chitosan nanoparticles Active against Gram-negative and
treatment (some of the Gram-positive bacteria (H. Yu et al.,
sewage is not properly 2020)
handled or handled), Storm
Bimetallic silver and copper Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria
drains, Septic tanks (home
nanoparticles gonorrhoeae and Escherichia coli
sewage), Vessels that
(Gram negative) (Merugu et al.,
discharge sewage, Yard
2020)
runoff (fertiliser and herbicide
waste).
Titanium di-oxide (TiO2) Staphylococcus aureus and
nanoparticles Staphylococcus epidermidis (Gram-
Industrial pollution:
positive), Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Radioactive contaminants
and Klebsiella pneumonia (Gram-
from nuclear power plants
negative), Candida albicans and
and medical and scientific
Aspergillus niger (Fungi) (Punitha et
sources, Heavy metals,
al., 2020)
organic contaminants, oils
and solids in industrial waste, PEI-coated PLA nanoparticles Escherichia coli and Salmonella
Pollutants, such as sulphur, enterica (Gram negative); Listeria
fossil fuel combustion, oil and monocytogenes and Staphylococcus
other petroleum products aureus (Gram positive) (Niza et al.,
from super-tank spills and 2020)
offshore drilling incidents,
Heated water with chemical Peptide-functionalized magnetic Staphylococcus sp. (Gram positive)
residues from industrial nanoparticles (AMP-MNPs) (Ding et al., 2020)
operations, such as power
stations.
Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
nanoparticles Escherichia coli (Gram-negative);
Agricultural pollution: Grain,
Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus
livestock and poultry farming
cereus (Gram-positive) (Gheidari et
discharges pollutants such as
al., 2020)
fertilizers, pesticides and
animal waste into local
waterways. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles Alternaria alternata, Sclerotium
rolfsii and Stemphylium solani
Medical waste pollutants: (Fungi); Escherichia coli (Gram-
During health care activities. negative) (Perveen et al., 2020)
Highlights:
 Nanotechnology is the most innovative method suitable for wastewater treatment.
 By adsorption, carbon-nanomaterials eliminate organic and inorganic pollutants.
49
 Nanoparticles are low-cost adsorbents for radionuclides and heavy metals.
 Nanomaterials serve as excellent antimicrobials in wastewater treatment.
50

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Journal Pre-proofs

Emerging nano-structured innovative materials as adsorbents in wastewater

Sivasubramanian Manikandan, Natchimuthu Karmegam, Ramasamy

To appear in: Bioresource Technology

Received Date: 4 October 2020

Karthiga Devib, Ramaswamy Arulvelb, Balasubramani Ravindrane, Mukesh Kumar Awasthia*

3#, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China

Tamil Nadu, India

Copperbelt University, Riverside, Jambo Drive, P O Box 21692, Kitwe, Zambia

Gu, Suwon, 16227, South Korea

Dr. Mukesh Kumar Awasthi

College of Natural Resources and Environment,

Northwest A&F University, Taicheng Road 3#,

Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China

nanoscale is nanotechnology. Nanomembranes are used in nanotechnology to soften water

on various nanotechnological approaches in wastewater remedy, mechanisms involved to

promote implementation, benefits and limitations in comparison with current processes,

following the advances in nanotechnology.

Keywords: Adsorbents; Carbon nanotubes; Heavy metals; Nanomaterials; Sewage.

of people (Rieu-Clarke et al., 2015).

prevalent and are regarded as pollutants of significance. Currently, their persistence,

involuntary presence of PPCPs in different aquatic compartments (such as water, sediments

Here is a summary of recent developments in water and wastewater treatment

nanotechnologies. Large nanomaterial technologies are objectively studied on the basis of

zeolites, polymer and metal nanoparticles, and Carbon-based nanomaterials (CbN)

(Madannejad et al., 2019; Vedhanayagam et al., 2019), mesoporous supporting self-

nanoscale photo catalysts in semiconductors. Many nanotechnological pathways have so far

most commonly used techniques can be classified:

b. Technology focused on nanomembranes for wastewater treatment.

c. Technology based on antimicrobial nanomaterials to destroy pathogens in treated water.

d. Nano-catalyst-based photocatalysis is a very promising approach for the treatment of

e. Sensing and control equipment for wastewater treatment.

based technologies and their potential risks has been provided.

2. Existing and future uses for treating sewage and wastewater

Nanomaterials are generally classified in a minimum of one dimension as materials

different dimension-dependent properties, many of which were studied in the treatment of

benefits of their discontinuous properties have been superparamagnetism, localised

plasmoplasm resonation, and quantum containment.

a. Carbon-dependent nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.

b. Metal-based nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.

c. Polymer-based nano-adsorbents in wastewater treatment.

d. Zeolites: Zeolites and its composites in wastewater treatment.

Each of these groups of nano-adsorbents are discussed in the following section

2020; Nouri et al., 2020).

2.2. Nanoparticles for heavy metal ions removal

phenol) predominantly through electrostatic appeal and chemical bonding. Significantly, it

measures in order to eliminate recalcitrant compounds or organic contaminants in trace for

removal and a bulky Rhodamine B (colouration molecule).

nanotubes. Oxidized carbon nanotubes surfaces contain functional groups including

prevent oil spills for oil recovery.

3. Nano membranes and membrane systems for treatment of wastewater

Water treatment is mainly aimed at eliminating undesired components from water.

selectivity and permeability of membranes is a major problem in membrane technology. A

performance of the systems to a greater extent. An excellent opportunity to improve

incorporation of functional nanomaterials as membranes (Lu and Astruc, 2020;

Rassoulinejad-Mousavi et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2020).

According to the mode of porosity, structure and application, membranes are

forms of membranes. The preparation and application of wastewater treatment of various

solids, organic matter and water versatile cations by nanofiltration is beneficial.