Environment
1. Nanotechnology Contributions at a Glance
An emerging interdisciplinary knowledge which is inaugurating a new era of contribution to human welfare, nanotechnology is penetrating into commercial products available in global markets in general and the environment industry in particular. Research groups, authorities, organizations, and manufacturers all over the world endeavor to exploit the privileges of cutting-edge nanotechnology to improve a broad spectrum of resource management systems from water purification to environmental protection. Potential applications of nanotechnology in the field include innovation of efficient methods for the remediation of contaminated surface and groundwater, supplement of disinfected drinking water from seawater, generation of affordable irrigation systems, degradation of organic pollutants which are harmful to the environment, removal of volatile organic compounds such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides from air at room temperature, and cleanup of soil and sediment, to name but a few.
NPD contains data about 560 environment-related nanoproducts of 50 various types. These products are introduced into global markets by 249 companies, the headquarters of which are located in 34 different countries. The products are classified into air remediation, soil remediation, and water and wastewater sub-industrial sectors.
The air remediation sub-industrial sector includes the products such as filters, turbine inlet air filters, air filtration media, gas turbine prefilters, locomotive air filters, purifiers, sensors, air conditioners, catalysts, scavengers, humidifiers, dust collector bags, dust collector cartridges, and dura socks, which are used to improve the quality of air and effectively remove airborne contaminants. The soil remediation sector contains such products as soil stabilizers and liquid nanoclay which are employed to reduce contaminant concentrations within the soil so as to contribute to vegetation growth and the improvement of air and groundwater quality. Similarly, various product types are manufactured and introduced into global markets to provide people with healthy water aided by the decontamination and purification of urban and industrial wastewater, some example of which are membranes, filters, purifiers, nanofiltration plants, reverse osmosis, water treatment system, water filtration media, ionizers, water coolers, water dispensers, capacitive deionisation systems, mobile hydration systems, flocculents, surfactants, additives, filtration washing systems, filtration modules, filtration containers, water treatment electrodes, and limestone removers.
These application areas originate from such scalable size-dependent properties of nanomaterials as high surface area, enhanced catalytic properties, fast dissolution, and strong sorption. Numerous nanostructured materials are employed in such purification processes, the most promising of which are carbon nanotubes, fullerene derivatives, silver-cyclodextrin nanocomposites, zeolites, nanofiltration membranes, photocatalytic titanium dioxide, and functionalized silicon oxide nanoparticles in order to remove heavy metals, organic chemicals, biodegradable plant debris, pathogens, particulates, sediments, chemical effluents, charged particles, algae, odor, and dust. Among the diverse range of environment industry nanoproducts introduced to the market, membranes possess the highest production volume, comprising zeolitic and catalytic nanoparticle-coated ceramic membranes, hybrid inorganic-organic nanocomposite membranes, and bio-inspired membranes such as hybrid protein-polymer biomimetic membranes, aligned nanotube membranes, and mesoporous block copolymer membranes.
2. Best-Performing Companies in Nanotechnology Exploitation
Quite a lot of companies are involved in manufacturing nano-based products for the environment industrial sector all over the world, the most active of which are TriSep Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, Nanostone Water, Applied Membranes, Hunan Keensen Technology, Chanson Water Ionizers USA, Yosemite Technologies Co, AAF Suzhou Co, Lenntech, Caware Int'l Co, Samsung Electronics Co, Nanoxi Technologies, Pro-reach biotech (Suzhou), Pentair, Craft Brew Water, Shin-Ah Electronics Co, Bionomic Technologies, Chungpung Co, Ausclimate ply, Great Lakes Filters LLC, SGX Sensortech, Suzhou Leanstar Electronic, and APRIA System.
3. Top Countries in Nanotechnology Promotion
Analyzing the headquarters of the monitored companies shows that USA, China, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan, Australia, and Malaysia are the most active countries in promoting nanotechnology in the environment industrial sector.
4. Search String
The keywords used to build up the environment industrial sector database are as follows:
Nano + water treatment, water purification, water disinfection, desalination, water filtration, aerogel, silica aerogel, carbon aerogel, absorbent, aeroclay, pre-membrane, membrane, ceramic membrane, polymeric membrane, nanofiber membrane, zeolitic membrane, hybrid membrane, nanocomposite membrane, bio-inspired membranes, filter, capacitive deionization, water CDI, reverse osmosis, water RO, hydration system, nanocavitation, ozonation, water treatment additives, water treatment surfactant, water treatment coagulant, water cooler, soil remediation, air-purifiers, air conditioners, air sensors, catalysts, humidifiers, and dust collector cartridges.
