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Influence of Quantum Dots Nanoparticles on the Water and Wastewater Treatment

In the recent years, nanotechnology became one of the fast-growing fields producing variety of commercial nanoparticles. Generally, these materials are significantly differ in their properties when compared with either components in their pure form, or with composites in which both of the phases have macroscopic dimensions. One of such new materials are quantum dots, nanomaterials made from a semiconductor nanostructure that confines the motion of conduction band electrons, valence band holes, or excitons in all three spatial directions. Due to their superior transport and optical properties, quantum dots are being applied in diode lasers, amplifiers and biological sensors. It could be expected that their production and application in different fields and industries, such as electronics, medicine, optical science, etc. will constantly grow, thus their presence in the environment would correspondingly increased in the near future. The new engineered nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, are not yet well-characterized or understood, and numerous potential environmental risks of their presence in environment, either water, soil or air, are still unknown. The objective of the study was to investigate the presence of quantum dots in aquatic environments and their possible influence on the effectiveness of typical treatment of water and/or wastewater. We were studied standard chemical processes such as disinfection by UV and ozone, as well as advanced oxidation processes for the degradation of organic pollutants in the presence/absence of CdSe quantum dots. Preliminary results have shown that CdSe nanoparticles have rather inhibitory effect on overall efficiency of removal, presumably due to their high quantum yields and high free energy. That observation could lead to the necessity for CdSe nanoparticles removal prior the treatment, because their presence could decrease the efficiency, i.e. prolong the time of treatment and correspondingly increase the costs of the treatment process.

nanomaterials; CdSe/ZnS core shells; organic pollutants; wastewater treatment; interactions

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