Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology

Abstract

Membranes Coupled with Nanotechnology for Daily Drinking Water: an Overview

Kelvii Wei GUO

It is well known that current global development is not sustainable over the long term. Every major ecosystem is under threat at different timescales, impacting water, food, energy, biodiversity, and mineral resources—all exacerbated by the population growth and climate change.Potable water is a threatened but critical resource, the scarcity of which isdevastating for the developing world. Water-related nanotechnology researchhas the potential to make safe drinking water inexpensive and accessible todeveloping countries. Therefore, the relevant nanotechnologies on membranes for filtrating drinking water are reviewed. At the same time, it is pointed out that for the foressable future membranes must exhibit a number ofcharacteristics such as high water flux, high salt rejection, mechanical stability,resistance to fouling, and low cost. With new breakthroughs in membrane technology, constituent specificmembranes should be realized andthe promising reverse osmosis membranes coupled with new nanotech will be applicable tonanofiltration membranes in the future.