Perspective and roadmap of energy-efficient desalination integrated with nanomaterials

Abstract

Desalination is known to be one of the most sustainable solutions for water treatment to provide fresh water for many water-stressed communities and industrial sectors. As the integration of nanotechnology with desalination processes is most likely to dominate the future research attention and desalination market, this manuscript presents state-of-the-art review on the enabling of cutting edge desalination technology integrated with nanomaterials. The technological needs and future perspective, which include the challenges and opportunities of nano-enabled desalination processes are critically reviewed in this contribution. Recent developments and findings on the state-of-the-art nano-enabled desalination processes are discussed. Key issues such as scale-up, economic competitiveness, potential environmental impacts and energy consumption are also reviewed. This minireview aims to provide directions and guidelines to the desalination research community regarding the future outlook and roadmap of the application of nanotechnology in desalination processes at the bench scale and commercialization level.