TY - JOUR
T1 - Application of nanotechnologies for removing pharmaceutically active compounds from water
T2 - Development and future trends
AU - Cai, Zhengqing
AU - Dwivedi, Amarendra Dhar
AU - Lee, Wan Ning
AU - Zhao, Xiao
AU - Liu, Wen
AU - Sillanpää, Mika
AU - Zhao, Dongye
AU - Huang, Ching Hua
AU - Fu, Jie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are widely detected emerging contaminants in water environments and possess high potential risks to human health and aquatic life; however, conventional water treatment processes cannot remove them sufficiently. The boom in nanoscience and nanotechnology offers opportunities to leapfrog on the back of these new technologies to develop innovative techniques in the field of water treatment. The extraordinary properties of nanomaterials, such as large surface area, quantum effect, electrochemical and magnetic properties, and other size-dependent physical and chemical properties, offer nanotechnologies great advantages over conventional technologies. To date, nanomaterials have been extensively applied or investigated in adsorption, photocatalysis, catalytic ozonation and filtration processes and have been shown to have many promising potential application prospects. Among the various nanomaterials, graphene and carbon nanotubes have shown a superior adsorption capacity for the removal of PhACs and possess great potential for modifying photocatalysts; moreover, they can also act as highly efficient catalysts for ozonation. The nano-sized photocatalysts, i.e. nano-TiO2, graphitic carbon nitride, MoS2 nanosheets, and ZnO, generally exhibit higher photocatalytic activity than bulk photocatalysts. The involvement of nanomaterials in a membrane can improve the permeability, selectivity, and anti-fouling properties of the membrane for improved filtration processes. However, some challenges, such as high cost, poor separation performance and environmental risks, are still impeding their engineering application. Aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive insight into the application of nanotechnologies for PhACs' remediation, the current review summarizes the recent advances and breakthroughs made in nanotechnology for PhACs' removal, highlights the modification methods for improving the effectiveness of treatment methods using nanomaterials, and proposes a number of possible further research directions.
AB - Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are widely detected emerging contaminants in water environments and possess high potential risks to human health and aquatic life; however, conventional water treatment processes cannot remove them sufficiently. The boom in nanoscience and nanotechnology offers opportunities to leapfrog on the back of these new technologies to develop innovative techniques in the field of water treatment. The extraordinary properties of nanomaterials, such as large surface area, quantum effect, electrochemical and magnetic properties, and other size-dependent physical and chemical properties, offer nanotechnologies great advantages over conventional technologies. To date, nanomaterials have been extensively applied or investigated in adsorption, photocatalysis, catalytic ozonation and filtration processes and have been shown to have many promising potential application prospects. Among the various nanomaterials, graphene and carbon nanotubes have shown a superior adsorption capacity for the removal of PhACs and possess great potential for modifying photocatalysts; moreover, they can also act as highly efficient catalysts for ozonation. The nano-sized photocatalysts, i.e. nano-TiO2, graphitic carbon nitride, MoS2 nanosheets, and ZnO, generally exhibit higher photocatalytic activity than bulk photocatalysts. The involvement of nanomaterials in a membrane can improve the permeability, selectivity, and anti-fouling properties of the membrane for improved filtration processes. However, some challenges, such as high cost, poor separation performance and environmental risks, are still impeding their engineering application. Aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive insight into the application of nanotechnologies for PhACs' remediation, the current review summarizes the recent advances and breakthroughs made in nanotechnology for PhACs' removal, highlights the modification methods for improving the effectiveness of treatment methods using nanomaterials, and proposes a number of possible further research directions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040944769&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/c7en00644f
DO - 10.1039/c7en00644f
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85040944769
SN - 2051-8153
VL - 5
SP - 27
EP - 47
JO - Environmental Science: Nano
JF - Environmental Science: Nano
IS - 1
ER -