Nanomaterials and nanotechnology for water treatment: recent advances

Water disinfection processes such as sedimentation, filtration, and chemical or biological degradation are not fully capable of destroying emerging contaminants or certain types of bacteria. Nanotechnology can potentially be employed to address these challenges posed by various contaminants and microorganisms. This paper highlights the advanced nanomaterials and approaches for the removal of pollutants and contaminant from aqueous solutions, functionalized nanostructured materials and processes in water and wastewater treatment technologies, removal/recovery of heavy metals by amorphous metal oxide nanoparticles, nanoparticle-assisted nanofiltration, and development of innovative and natural-based nanosorbents for water treatment. In this review, recent nanotechnological advances and deployment of polymeric nanoadsorbents for the removal of toxic contaminants/pollutants from wastewater streams are discussed.