Next generation of water purification
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<p class="MsoNormal">Approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is water covered, yet the situation of water scarcity is still getting worse in this world due to population growth, urbanization and increasing water usage. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>For this reason, it has not been a short time since people have dreamed of making u...
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<p class="MsoNormal">Approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is water covered, yet the situation of water scarcity is still getting worse in this world due to population growth, urbanization and increasing water usage. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>For this reason, it has not been a short time since people have dreamed of making use of seawater into our day to day activities. NanoH2O is such an innovator who combines nanotechnology with traditional water purification process to improve the productivity and feasibility of transforming seawater into clean drinking water.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The basic idea is simple but significant; the technology enhances current device (osmosis membrane) performance by adding nanostructured particles which allows additional control of membrane properties instead of using extra facilities and equipments. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>This helps to increase filtering efficiency by lowering the energy consumption of desalinization process and reducing the size and producing costs in each plant. The membrane and nano material they choose is also smart enough that it is not only selectively permissive but more important inhibit the adhesion of bacteria cells (traditionally this process leads to extra chemical additives and energy consumption). <span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet a great idea does not guarantee a success, in my observation, there are still several technical issues that the company needs to deal with in order to outshine from those giant competitors like GE.</p>
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<li><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->The <strong>chosen of materials</strong>, it is necessary to consider if this nano structured material is easy to get or prepared, and if the material is recyclable and endurable, this is important especially when the cost of basic materials preparation is high.</li>
<li><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span>The <strong>incorporation</strong> of the nano particles into the system, since we are under a micro and nano scale, thus the behavior of the particle is dominated by quantum size effect, this calls an extra attention on fabrication process (chemical, physical or sputtering) as different preparing methods or any change in synthesis conditions will vary enormously on fabrication costs and final membrane qualities.</li>
<li><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span>The last point I will emphasize that if this device is easy to be <strong>scaled up</strong>, since designed nano particles are going to be deposited onto the membrane, it is important to ensure both the quality of ultimate membrane and its feasibility in industrialized scaling up, this is crucial for the technique to be employed in industry, especially in this specific area where the filtering of water requires a large accessible membrane area at one time.</li>
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<p class="MsoNormal">In general, the innovative concept of combining multifunctional nano particles into water purification devices is fantastic, yet the practice of this plan might not seem as easy as how you picture it, in addition to the character of nano material which is strongly related to its size and fabricating process, the feasibility of systems scaling up for massive water supply must also be taken into account for prospective application of this technology.</p>
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