Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Safe drinking
water
Reject
16.16
A schematic of application of CNTs on a household scale
showing cross fl ow fi ltration of contaminated water through
macrogeometry of aligned CNTs.
CNT tip or side-wall functionalization, are all highly complex and many
material as well as process challenges are involved. It is proposed that
aligned CNTs may be grown in cylindrical macrogeometry instead of growth
of CNTs on rectangular supports. The former path seems to be technically
a more effi cient means of fi nding a durable CNT-based device bearing in
mind the conditions prevalent in the actual fi eld as shown in Fig. 16.16.
Societal implications
As yet the potential for nanomaterials to exert deleterious effects on
humans or the environment is poorly understood, but data on their possible
effects are needed so that expanded development and use of nanotechnol-
ogy can proceed. The environmental fate and toxicity of a material are
critical issues in materials selection and design for water purifi cation. There
are no systematic investigations of the hydrolytic, oxidative, photochemical
and biological stability of nanomaterials (e.g., dendrimers, carbonaceous
nanoparticles, metal oxides, etc.) in natural and engineered environmental
systems. Assessing the risk of using nanomaterials presents some unique
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