Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Commercialization of Nano from
Water Sen
sors to Membranes
Brent Giles
Lux Research Inc., New York, New York, USA
CONTENTS
10.1 How to Win . . . Or Not ..................................................................................................... 181
10.2 Looking for Nano Treatment Breakthroughs beyond Membranes ............................ 183
10.3 Water Quality Sensors: A Mature Industry, or One in Its Infancy? ........................... 184
10.4 Limits of Traditional Water Testing ................................................................................ 184
10.5 Metals and Inorganics: Opportunities for Next-Generation Instruments ................ 186
10.6 Organic Species: A Moving and Expanding Target ..................................................... 187
10.7 Microbes and Viruses: A Challenge Current Monitoring Does Not Address .......... 188
10.8 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 190
References ..................................................................................................................................... 190
Water technology is a dificult market for cutting-edge technologies. Water analytics, as an
example, is a brutally competitive $1.5 billion business, relatively small as major markets
go, and by most measures it is a very mature and consolidated market. Water membranes,
surprisingly, represent a similar $1.5-1.6 billion market, once you strip away the integrated
systems and treatments and focus on the membranes themselves where nanotechnologies
might play. It too is highly consolidated among major players such as GE, Dow, and Hylux.
Nonmembrane treatment markets such as absorbent media are larger but dominated by low-
cost materials. Next-generation technologies moving into any of these markets face a gaunt-
let of commodity incumbents and customers as reliably conservative as Queen Victoria.
To make a major impact, nanotechnology must ind applications that allow it to exploit
the superlatives we often attribute to it, i.e., dramatic miniaturization, revolutionary per-
formance, and unique capabilities. Here we will examine one area, analytics, where this
is not only possible but beginning to be realized. For contrast, we will also examine areas
where, despite nano's promise, a real revolution is unlikely.
10.1 How to Win . . . Or Not
Let us start with an example of a space where highly innovative nanomaterials have been
hyped and drawn the attention of major players. Consider municipal seawater reverse
181
