Green nanotechnology and environmental applications

1. SEMINAR ON
GREEN NANOTECHNOLOGY
PRESENTED BY
SHUBHAM BHATTACHARYA
ROLL-43
SEM-6th
SIDDHARTHA MISHRA
ROLL-44
SEM-6th
1
Under the guidance of
Prof. NEETA SAHAY
ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Nano solar cells
 Nanotechnology in water treatment
 Nanotechnology in air pollution
 Conclusion
 Reference
2

3. INTRODUCTION
What is Nanotechnology?
The branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100
nanometers, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.
Origin
In 1959 by renowned physicist Richard Feynman in his talk There’s Plenty of Room at the
Bottom
What is so special about the Nanoscale?
Nanoparticles are so small they contain just a few atoms to a few thousand atoms, as opposed
to bulk materials that might contain many billions of atoms. This difference is what causes
nano materials to behave differently than their bulk counterparts.
3

4. GREEN NANOTECHNOLOGY
Green nanotechnology has been described as the development of clean technologies, to
minimize potential environmental and human health risks associated with the manufacture
and use of nanotechnology products, and to encourage replacement of existing products with
new nano-products that are more environmentally friendly throughout their lifecycle.
Nanoproducts or nanomaterials can:
 Desalinate water
 Treat pollutants.
 Make solar cells much more cost efficient
 Save fuel
 Reduce materials used for production.
 Reduce pollution from energy generation.
 Help conserve fossil fuels.
 Enhance battery life (that could lead to less material use and less waste).
4
contd.

5. NANO SOLAR CELLS
How can Nanotechnology improve solar
cells?
 Reduced manufacturing costs
 Reduced installation costs
 Making solar cells ultra-thin reduces
their material costs.
5

6. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN WATER
TREATMENT
Types of nanotechnology process for water treatment
 Nanofiltration
 Nanoremediation
6

7. NANOFILTRATION
 Membrane filtration process for surface
water and fresh groundwater softening and
removal of disinfection
 Variety of materials can be used to make the
membrane
 Nanofiltration membranes have pore size smaller
than that used
in microfiltration and ultrafiltration
 No extra sodium ions, as used in ion exchangers
 Many separation processes do not operate at
room temperature as nanofilteration
(e.g.distillation)
7
contd.

8. NANOREMEDIATION
 Explored to treat ground water, wastewater, soil, sediment, or other contaminated environmental
materials
 Nanoparticle agents are brought into contact with the target contaminant under conditions that allow
a immobilizing reaction
 Small particle size also allows nanoparticles to enter small pores in soil or sediment that larger
particles might not penetrate
 Target contaminants include organic molecules such as pesticides or organic solvents and metals such
as arsenic or lead
8
contd.

9. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN AIR POLLUTION
There are two major ways in which
nanotechnology is being used to reduce air
pollution:
1.Catalyst: Nanotechnology can improve the
performance and cost of catalysts used to
transform vapors escaping from cars or
industrial plants into harmless gasses.
2.Nanostructured membranes:
Being developed to separate carbon dioxide
from industrial plant exhaust streams.
9

10. Air Pollution: Nanotechnology
Applications under Development
 Using crystals containing nano sized
pores to trap carbon dioxide.
 Reducing the amount of platinum used
in catalytic converters.
 Converting carbon dioxide to methanol;
which can be used to power fuel-cells.
 Reducing emissions from power plants
by converting carbon dioxide into
nanotubes. 10
contd.

11. CONCLUSION
As nanotechnology becomes more commercialized, it has the potential to become an
industry with very strong green credentials.Care must be taken, however, to make sure
we fully understand the consequences of releasing nanoparticles into the environment,
and put measures in place to prevent their loss whenever possible. New nanomaterials
may also be designed from the very outset to be manufactured without the need for
large quantities of energy and potentially harmful chemicals.
11

12. REFERENCE
Books:
 Green Nanotechnology: Solutions for Sustainability and Energy in the Built
Environment
by Geoffrey B. Smith (Author), Claes-Goran S. Granqvist (Author)
Websites:
 Nanotechnology Database
http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nanobase/
 Nanotechnology Institute (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
http://www.nanotechnologyinstitute.org
 Nanotechnology Now
http://www.nanotech-now.com/ 12

13. THANK YOU
13