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According to researchers in India, nanotechnology could be
the key to providing clean drinking water to areas fraught with drought or
excessive contamination. In an article published recently in
International Journal of Nuclear Desalination, the
scientists alluded to carbon nanotubes replacing most membranes and filtration
systems.
According to the article, written by S. Kar, R.C. Bindal, S.
Prabhakar, P.K. Tewari, K. Dasgupta, and D. Sathiyamoorthy of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, India, the trick to creating water systems
for poorer areas is making them even cheaper than today's membrane bioreactors,
etc.
The team said that nanostructured carbon tubes,
hollow carbon fibers less than a billionth the thickness of a human hair, would
make great filters because only the smallest particles, like simple water, would
be able to pass through, while larger particles, including most bacteria and
other pollutants, would be stopped, while flow rates remained very high with
low power output.
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