This document discusses using nanotechnology, specifically carbon nanotubes, for treating agricultural wastewater. It describes the composition of agricultural wastewater and then outlines a process for synthesizing carbon nanotubes at low temperatures. Carbon nanotubes are identified as an efficient tool for wastewater treatment due to their extremely high surface area. The document further discusses using nano-materials like silver nanoparticles and zinc oxide nanoparticles to reduce biofouling and inhibit bacterial growth in the treated water. It evaluates carbon nanotubes and other nano-materials for removing various organic and inorganic impurities as well as heavy metals from wastewater.

1. ABSTRACT- If we talk about the most successful
technology till now in the world of scientific industry
then nanotechnology is the name which blinks in the
mind. This technology has wonderful features, which
are not present in any other technology. Providing
clean and affordable water to meet human needs is a
grand challenge of the 21st century. The need for
technological innovation to enable integrated water
management cannot be overstated. Nanotechnology
holds great potential in advancing water and
wastewater treatment to improve treatment efficiency
as well as to augment water supply through safe use of
unconventional water source.
KEYWORDS-Nanotechnology, Integrated Water
Management, Technological Innovation.
INTRODUCTION-Although Composition of agricultural
waste water varies depending upon the discharging
industry, it essentially consists of
S.no. Agro Waste
Water
Content
Composition
1. Organic
Impurities
Fats, grease, oils,
hydro-carbons etc.
2. Inorganic
Impurities
Calcium,
Magnesium,
Chloride, Sulphate
ions etc.
3. Biological
impurities
Virus, Bacteria,
Protozoa etc.
4. Heavy Metals Cadmium, Lead,
Arsenic etc.
So we have come up with an innovative but the most
effective method based on nano-technology, which is
the core reason of U.S. exponential technical growth.
Recent advances in nanotechnology offer leapfrogging
opportunities to develop next-generation water supply
systems. Our current water treatment, distribution, and
discharge practices, which heavily rely on conveyance
and centralized systems, are no longer sustainable.
Because of extremely high surface to volume ratio
(1000-1500) Carbon nanotubes are technically the most
efficient tool of any waste water treatment whether
agricultural, industrial or domestic.
MANUFACTURING PROCESS- We develop a new
chemical route to prepare carbon nanotubes at room
temperature. Graphite powder is immersed in a mixed
solution of nitric and sulfuric acid with potassium
chlorate. After heating the solution up to 70°C and
leaving them in the air for 3 days, we obtained carbon
nanotube bundles. This process could provide an easy
and inexpensive method for the preparation of carbon
nanotubes. However, synthesizing CNTs remains costly
and difficult due to the high temperatures (around
500°C) and pressures required. Here we report on a
chemical synthesis process that we have developed,
which allows us to prepare CNTs easily and
inexpensively at low temperatures (below 70°C) and
without applying pressure.
Our starting materials were graphite, potassium
chlorate (KClO3), nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid
(H2SO4). First, 5.0g of graphite (99.995+% purity, 45Im,
Aldrich) was slowly added to a mixture of fuming nitric
acid (25ml) and sulfuric acid (50ml) for 30 minutes.
After cooling the mixture down to 5°C in an ice bath,
25.0g of potassium chlorate was slowly added to the
solution while stirring for 30 minutes
Since a lot of heat was produced while adding
potassium chlorate into the mixture, we took special
care during this step. Silver pellets, Zinc Oxide and
Alumina (10-20 gm.) are additionally added in the
solution. The solution was heated up to 70°C for 24
hours and was then placed in the air for 3 days.
Most graphite precipitated on the bottom but some
reacted carbons were floating. The floating carbon
materials were transferred into DI water. After stirring it
for 1 hour, the solution was immediately filtrated and
the sample was dried. After that, the above steps were
repeated 4 times to obtain different carbon nano tubes.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION- Anti-microbial nano-materials
such as nano-Ag and CNTs can reduce tubular bio-
AGRO WASTE WATER TREATMENT THROUGH NANOTECHNOLOGY
Swapnil Singh Thakur Pooja Sabnani Rishabh Gupta
Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering
13113050 13113039 13113036
NIT Raipur NIT Raipur NIT Raipur
swapnilsinghthakur3164@gmail.com poojasabnani08@gmail.com rishabhg.1007@gmail.com

2. fouling. Nano-Ag pellets has been doped or surface
grafted on pores of carbon nanotubes to inhibit
bacterial attachment and biofilm formation.
Moreover, Carbon nanotubes have specific bacteria-
cidic action by rupturing the cell wall of bacteria
without producing any adverse bi-product. Nano-
particles of Ag, Alumina, Zinc Oxide Increases the
hydrophilicity of carbon nanotube allowing the smooth
passage of water thus preventing clogging the Carbon
nano tubes thus formed specifically adsorb Organic
impurities including fatty acids, grease, oils etc. It
destroys microbes such as bacteria, virus via rupturing
of cell wall by Ag Nanoparticles. Moreover Heavy metal
ions such as Arsenic, Cadmium, Zinc are adsorbed on
the surface of carbon nano tubes. For removing
Inorganic Impurities such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Chloride,
Sulphate ions Lime (calcium oxide) & soda (NaOH) can
be used quantitatively depending upon the amount of
impurities present.
POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF WASTE WATER
TREATMENT-Nano-materials are typically defined as
materials smaller than 100 nm in at least
One dimension. At this scale, materials often possess
novel size‐dependent properties different from their
large counterparts which might already be explored
for the water treatment purposes. These properties
may relate to the high specific surface area, such as fast
dissolution, high reactivity, and strong sorption, or to
their discontinuous properties, such as super
paramagnetism, localized surface plasmon resonance,
and quantum confinement effect. Most applications
are still in the stage of laboratory research.
1) Adsoption
Adsorption is commonly used to remove organic and
inorganic contaminants in water and wastewater
treatment. Nano-sorbents provide significant
improvement over conventional adsorbernts with their
extremely high specific surface area and associated
sorption sites, short intra-particle diffusion distance,
and tunable pore size and surface chemistry.
a) Carbon‐based nano adsorbents for Organic removal‐
CNT is better than activated carbon for removal of
various organic wastes chemicals. Its high adsorption
capacity is mainly due to the large specific surface area
and the diverse contaminant‐CNT interactions. In
aqueous phase, CNT form aggregates due to
hydrophobicity of their graphitic surfaces. These
aggregates contain interstitial spaces and grooves for
with high absorption energy for organic molecules.
CNTs have more capacity for absorption or organic
bulky molecules because of large pores in bundles and
more accessible sorption sites. They absorb polar
organic compounds due to diverse contaminant‐CNT
interactions like hydrophobic effect, pi‐pi interactions
(for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Polar aromatic
compounds), hydrogen bonding(for compounds with
–COOH, ‐NH2, ‐OH
functional-groups), covalent bonding and electrostatic
interactions (for positively charged organic
contaminants like antibiotics).
Heavy metal removal‐ Oxidized CNTs have high
adsorption capacity for metal ions with fast kinetics.
The surface functional groups of CNTs absorb metal ions
through electrostatic interactions and chemical
bonding. Thus, surface oxidation can significantly
enhance the absorption capacity of CNTs. They may not
be a good alternative for activated carbon as wide‐
spectrum adsorbents, but since their surface
chemistry can be tuned to target specific
contaminants, they may have unique applications in
polishing steps to remove recalcitrant compounds or
in pre‐concentration of trace organic contaminants
for analytical purposes.
ANTIMICROBIAL NANOPARTICLE
The antibacterial nanoparticles are classified into three
general categories: naturally occurring antibacterial
substances, metals and metal oxides, and novel
engineered nano-materials. These nanoparticles
interact with microbial cells through a variety of
mechanisms. The various types of anti-microbial nano-
materials are reviewed in this paper. The nanoparticles
can either directly interact with the microbial cells, e.g.
interrupting trans‐membrane electron transfer,
disrupting or penetrating the cell envelope, or oxidizing
cell components, or produce secondary products (e.g.
reactive oxygen species (ROS) or dissolved heavy metal
ions) that cause damage.
Ag NANOPARTICLE
Nanoparticles of silver release large quantities of silver
ions (Ag+) when they interact with bacterial cells. These
ions are very Reactive and form reactive oxygen species
(ROS) within the cells by reacting with thiol groups in

3. the enzymes. ROS formation renders the respiratory
enzymes inactive leading to cell death. The structural
integrity and permeability of the cell membrane is
compromised by Ag+ ions which accumulate inside
the membrane by forming pits causing large increase in
membrane permeability. Ag + ions also prevent DNA
replication by damaging DNA and RNA. Silver ions also
show photo-catalytic activity in presence of UV
radiation and this is useful in disinfection of microbes.
Many current water purification and disinfection
systems use membranes impregnated with nano-scale
silver particles.
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle- Similar to Ti02, nano‐sized
ZnO also shows high UV absorption efficiency and
photo- catalytic activity. One of the main mechanisms
of photo-catalytic degradation by ZnO is attributed to
generation of hydrogen peroxide within the cells.
CONFIRMATORY TEST FOR PURIFIED WATER
The chemical oxygen demand (COD) determines the
amount of oxygen required for chemical oxidation of
organic matter using a strong chemical oxidant, such as,
potassium dichromate under reflux conditions.
COD PROCEDURE-1. Wash culture tubes and caps with
20% H2SO4 before using to prevent contamination. 2.
Place sample (2.5 mL) in culture tube and Add K2Cr2O7
digestion solution (1.5 mL). 3. Carefully run Sulphuric
acid reagent (3.5 mL) down inside of vessel so an acid
layer is formed under the sample-digestion solution
layer and tightly cap tubes or seal ampules, and invert
each several times to mix completely. 4. Place tubes in
block digester preheated to 150°C and reflux for 2 h
behind a protective shield. 5. Cool to room temperature
and place vessels in test tube rack. Some mercuric
sulfate may precipitate out but this will not affect the
analysis. 6. Add 1 to 2 drops of Ferroin indicator and stir
rapidly on magnetic stirrer while titrating with
standardized 0.10 M FAS. 7. The end point is a sharp
color change from blue-green to reddish brown,
although the blue green may reappear within minutes.
8. In the same manner reflux and titrate a blank
containing the reagents and a volume of distilled water
equal to that of the sample.
9. COD is given by COD (mg O2 /L) = [(A-B) × M ×8000)
/ (V sample) Where: A = volume of FAS used for blank
(mL) B = volume of FAS used for sample (mL) M =
molarity of FAS 8000 = milli equivalent weight of
oxygen (8) ×1000 mL/L.
The difference in the COD level of the polluted and
processed water through carbon nanotube indicates
the efficiency of the process.
REGENERATION OF CARBON NANOTUBE- By a simple
pH SHIFT Of 4-5 using dilute HCl the carbon nano tube
can be regenerated again.
CONCLUSION- Clean water is essential and critical for
all human activities ranging from simple household
chores to the very complex industrial and agricultural
processes. Current water distribution and supply
concepts are inefficient owing the various drawbacks of
these systems which include large demand on
resources, low efficiency in water purification and
treatment, high cost of operating the plant, chances of
contamination during transport to remote locations etc.
Current water purification and wastewater treatment
methods can control the organic and inorganic wastes
from water. But, these methods are energy intensive
and uneconomical because of non‐reusable membranes
and filters, inability to completely purify water, inability
to make reuse of the retentate, etc. Various key issues
and challenges still remain in successful incorporation,
scaling up and commercialization of nanotechnology
applications in inhibiting the bacterial pathogens,
removal of heavy metals etc. The ability to synthesize
cost effective nano-materials and their availability at
industrial scale will determine the progress rate at
which nanotechnology applications are accepted on
industrial level.