nmp-dela...seventh framework programme (fp7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n°608740 nmp-dela...

EU 7th Framework Programme

Theme: (NMP.2013.4.0-5) Deployment of societally beneficial nano and/or

materials technologies in ICP countries. Coordination and Support Action

Deliverable D2.7: Roadmap and recommendations for deploy-ment – Focus on nanotechnologies for water

The work leading to these results receives funding from the European Community's

Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement n°608740

NMP-DeLA

Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies

Deployment in Latin American Countries

FP7-NMP-2013-CSA-7

D2.7 Ongoing Roadmap and Recommendations for Deployment

Copyright © NMP-DeLA 2014 of 56

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the comments and suggestions by reviewer Mark Morri-son on the pre-final version of this document. The quality of the contents and analysis remains the sole responsibility of the authors.



Table of Contents

Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................................... 6

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 8

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9

2 Framework for the Roadmap ....................................................................................... 10

2.1 Definition of nanotechnology ............................................................................................ 10

2.2 Construction of roadmaps ................................................................................................ 10

2.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 10

2.3.1 Research questions ................................................................................................... 11

2.3.2 Addressing Societal Challenges for water in the Roadmap ........................................ 13

2.3.3 Addressing Capability Approach in the Roadmaps .................................................... 15

3 NanoWater Roadmap .................................................................................................. 17

3.1 Water usage .................................................................................................................... 17

3.2 Demand for innovative water treatment solutions in LA countries .................................... 17

3.2.1 Use of water in the water intensive industry ............................................................... 19

3.3 Background: Nanotechnologies for Water ........................................................................ 21

3.4 State of the art in nanotechnologies for water in LA countries .......................................... 24

3.4.1 Advances in nanotechnology in LAC ......................................................................... 24

3.4.2 Research Base .......................................................................................................... 24

3.4.3 Research Collaboration with Europe .......................................................................... 26

3.4.4 Applications of water nanotechnology research in LA for societal challenges ............ 27

3.5 Education in nanotechnology for water applications ......................................................... 28

3.6 Water Sector Industry and Investment ............................................................................. 28

3.7 Policy and funding for NMP for Water .............................................................................. 29

4 Nanotechnology for Water - Relevance to Latin America ............................................ 30

4.1 Water remediation - Pollutant removal ............................................................................. 30

4.2 Potabilisation ................................................................................................................... 31

4.3 Desalination ..................................................................................................................... 33

4.4 Sensor development for pollutant monitoring ................................................................... 34

4.5 Summary and outlook ...................................................................................................... 35

5 Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 38

5.1 Research on NMP’s for water .......................................................................................... 38



5.2 Policy and funding for NMP for Water .............................................................................. 39

5.3 Industry and Investment ................................................................................................... 40

5.4 Ethical, Legal, Societal and Environmental Aspects ......................................................... 42

6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 44

7 References .................................................................................................................. 48

Annexes ............................................................................................................................. 52

Annex 1: List of Interviewees for NanoWaterRoadmap .............................................................. 52

Annex 2. Potential for transferability of knowledge created in FP7 NMP projects focusing on water to LA ................................................................................................................................ 54



Index of Tables

Table 1. Millenium Development Goals related to environment and water ..................................................... 13

Table 2. Correlation between the top applications of nanotechnology for developing countries and the UN MDGs – In italics applications related to water treatment, remediation and monitoring .......................... 14

Table 3. Water withdrawal per sector in Chile ................................................................................................. 20

Table 4. Examples of potential applications of nanotechnology in water/wastewater treatment .................... 21

Table 5. Examples of pollutants removed by nanoscale materials ................................................................. 30

Table 6. Examples of nanostructured and nanoreactive membranes for use in water purification ................ 32

Table 7. List of applications demonstrating the general potential of nanomaterials in water technologies .... 36

Index of Figures

Figure 1. Linkages of activities in roadmap construction ................................................................................ 13

Figure 2. Research questions, criteria and capabilities in construction of NMP-DeLA roadmaps .................. 16

Figure 3. Global water withdrawal by sector, 1900-2025 ................................................................................ 17

Figure 4. LAC regions and water scarcity LAC ............................................................................................... 18

Figure 5. Demand for water in different sectors 2011 ..................................................................................... 19

Figure 6. Nanotechnology applications in water treatment ............................................................................. 22

Figure 7. Bacteria cell damage ........................................................................................................................ 33

Figure 8. Controlled pores in single layer graphene........................................................................................ 34

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Abbreviations and acronyms

Partner Acronyms:

ASCAMM Fundaciò Privada ASCAMM, Spain

REDINN Rete Europea dell’Innovazione, Italy

ION Institute of Nanotechnology, UK

MTV Malsch TechnoValuation, Netherlands

ZSI Zentrum für Soziale Innovation, Austria

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland

RELANS Latin American Nanotechnology and Society Network, Brazil

MINCyT The Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, Argentina

CIMAV-CONACYT Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, S.C, Mexico

MEC Ministry of Education and Culture, Uruguay

EUROCHILE Eurochile Business Foundation, Chile

Abbreviations and acronyms used in this report

AgNP Silver Nanoparticle

CNT Carbon Nanotubes

EHS Environmental, Health and Safety

ELSA Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects

ETPN European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine

ICP International Cooperation Partner

ISO International Standardization Organization

LA Latin America

LAC Latin American and Caribbean

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MDR-TB Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

NF Nanofiltration

NMP Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials & New Production Technologies

NGOs Non-governmental organizations

NTDs Neglected Tropical Diseases

OIP Open Innovation Platform

Qdots Quantum dots

RO Reverse osmosis

STI Science, Technology and Innovation



TRL Technology Readiness Level

UF Ultrafiltration

UN United Nations

UV Ultraviolet (light)

UNEP United Nations Environment Program

WHO World Health Organisation



Executive Summary

This roadmap is addressed to stakeholders dealing with nanotechnologies, and especially with nanotechnol-ogies for water, in Latin American countries. Considering the newness of the field and the early development stage of applications, the recommendations found here are more directed to policy-makers, academic ex-perts and other experts dealing with knowledge transfer from university or research institutes to industry and public utilities and the water intensive industry, such as mining and agro-food. In the NMP DeLA project (Na-nosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies - Deployment in Latin American Countries), we aimed to develop strategic roadmaps for the areas of health, water and energy, which include the complete system of research, industrial development and financial management.

The present roadmap on nanowater is the product of a 2-year multi-stakeholder research process in which we addressed the question of how nanotechnology-based solutions to water-related challenges (especially focusing on the Latin American context) should be produced in the future? The research approached five thematic clusters: (1) research, (2) policy making and funding, (3) education and training, (4) industry and in-vestment and (5) ethical, legal and social aspects. In a previous step we ask the questions what is already there and how is nanotechnology currently deployed in Latin America in the context of water-related chal-lenges? The roadmap gives examples of existing good practices, as well as opening pathways and providing recommendations for efficient and responsible management of technological solutions. The aim of the roadmap is to guide stakeholders in the promotion of research and innovations that are meaningful, especial-ly from a perspective that is driven by basic needs of Latin American societies and people. The water appli-cation focused on are potabilisation of water (disinfection) innovative solutions for desalination for drinking and process water and waste water treatment with recovery aspects. Further nanotechnological solutions for water quality monitoring networks are discussed. Suggested focus for future deployment are solutions for mining waste water and removal of arsenic from ground water and mining water.



1 Introduction

The main objective of NMP-DeLA project is to develop a series of activities between European (EU) and Lat-in American (LA) countries, to strengthen the local research and training potential as a way of facilitating the deployment of nano technologies in areas of major societal challenge in LA: energy, water and health. This document (Deliverable 2.2 “Ongoing roadmap and recommendations for deployment”) relates to activities which aim to produce ongoing and final qualitative roadmaps, including recommendations to be disseminat-ed among the community of interest of NMP-DeLA and published online.

In this particular document, the roadmap focusing on nanotechnologies for water is presented. This de-scribes objectives, methodologies and tools that have been used to design the roadmap, and ensure that it corresponds to the needs of the interested community, in order to have maximum impact.

This roadmap details:

1. Training needs and research priorities including research, development and innovation (RD&I) themes and technology gaps, as well as industrial challenges;

2. The most successful and innovative NMP technologies used today in Europe and LAC, including a review of methodologies, good practices and trends in the pursuit of improving water treatment;

3. Recommendations for potential collaborative research deployment.

The timeframe of the roadmap is the year 2025. Our main concern is how the deployment of nanotechnolo-gies can help realize the Millennium Development Goals1 and, therefore, address major societal challenges, which affect mostly the poor populations of developing countries, in this case those living in LA and, more specifically, the International Cooperation Partner2 (ICP) countries participating in the NMP-DeLA project (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) plus Uruguay. Due to similarities found in terms of problems faced by other countries in LA and the Caribbean (LAC) region, and other developing countries as well, and the per-vasive nature of nanotechnologies, we engaged with other LAC countries in outreach activities to validate the roadmap (expert workshops and summer schools) and have disseminated this material widely to other developing countries, as well as all experts in nanotechnologies around the world.

The target audience for this roadmap is composed of policy makers, academics, industrialists and practition-ers, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, in the field of water, and especially in potabilisation, remediation and monitoring of water quality.

1 It aims to address as well the sustainable development goals that will be integrated into the UN development agenda beyond 2015 . Relevance to these MDG-plus goals will be incorporated to the final roadmap.

2 International Cooperation Partner Countries are (as defined for the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development - FP7) lower-income, low-income, lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income coun-tries targeted by the European Commission to increase research cooperation (third countries). Organizations from these countries can participate and receive funding in FP7, providing that certain minimum conditions are met (see: http://wbc-inco.net/glossary/67). For the European program Horizon 2020, there are three categories of third countries: neighboring to the EU, industrial and emerging economies, and developing countries. See: http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?pg=strategy and http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal4/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/ftags/international_cooperation.html#c,topics=flags/s/IntlCoop/1/1.



2 Framework for the Roadmap

2.1 Definition of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is classified as an emerging, enabling, and disruptive technology base that has potential (and confirmed) cross-industrial applications, besides being convergent (Romig Jr. et al 2007). Nanotechnol-ogy is an emerging scientific field that has deserved particular attention since the early 1990s, although its foundations were established in the late 1950s. Nanotechnologies are described as a broad-based, multidis-ciplinary field projected to reach mass use by 2020 and affecting education, innovation, learning and govern-ance (Roco et al 2011a).

According to the International Standardization Organization (ISO 2010 online) nanotechnology is the applica-tion of scientific knowledge to manipulate and control matter in the nanoscale (referring to particles which size range from approximately 1nm to 100nm3) in order to make use of size- and structure-dependent prop-erties and phenomena, as distinct from those associated with individual atoms or molecules or with bulk ma-terials.

At the nanoscopic or nanoscale materials acquire new characteristics that can be used in a wide range of novel applications. They potentially include cheaper and more efficient technologies that can benefit the world’s poor, such as cheap water filters, efficient solar powered electricity, and portable diagnostic tests (Nano-Dev 2010).

2.2 Construction of roadmaps

Similar methodology and elaboration processes have been used for all three roadmaps: on health, energy and water.

Key research questions have been used as a tool in the roadmapping process (see Section 2.4). The three roadmaps are built upon a needs-based perspective: improved healthcare, clean and sufficient water, sus-tainable energy in LA. The adapted capability approach is used as a conceptual framework in the roadmap-ping to support the needs-based perspective and to bring a multi-dimensional approach to the foresight ex-ercise. The time frame for each roadmap is 10 years, up to year 2025.

The focus of the three roadmaps is on those technologies/needs with a possible important impact on poor populations in LA, and more specifically in the ICP countries in LA plus Uruguay. In order to formulate very specific conclusions and recommendations, a choice of core topics was made that is covered in the individu-al thematic roadmaps, meaning that not all technological developments, nor the full range of societal needs can be addressed.

It is important to note that a substantial amount of resource is needed to compile comprehensive roadmaps. The roadmapping exercise within the context of NMP-DeLA is limited in scope as the research relies on (a) a bibliometric analysis, (b) results of four one-day workshops on each topic and (c) expert interviews and focus groups.

2.3 Methodology

The construction of the roadmap included desk research, bibliometric analysis and expert consultation through questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and panel discussions. Desk research was carried out in



order to gather information on applications of nanotechnologies in the focus areas (Invernizzi et al, 2015). The findings of this review provide information on the state-of-the-art of projects, most active institutions and researchers, initiatives and enabling policies in LA.

Firstly, we present an overview on “what is already there?” in terms of applications and developments of nanotechnology in the focus areas. Secondly, we take a more focused look at the societal challenges and realities of LA countries with the emphasis on poor and marginalized populations in the region, and how they are related to the focus areas of the project, with specific data shown for water in this roadmap. Thirdly, qual-itative methods, such as consultation with experts from academia, industry and policy making, have been applied to analyse how much of what is already present can be deployed and what issues need to be ad-dressed. Interpretation, discussion and validation of these first results was performed with experts and the wider interested/affected community in the framework of NMP-DeLA events (workshops, summer schools) and online consultation. A list of experts consulted for the construction of this roadmap is provided in Annex 1.

2.3.1 Research questions

The roadmap has been structured along key research questions to be explored by implementing different methodological approaches and participatory assessment methods. This section describes these approach-es in more detail. Most of the assessment tools have been applied in the framework of project events to use synergies and to save costs. Inter-connections between research questions have been exploited by means of joint organization of participatory events and focus groups by project partners, where a set of questions has been discussed with different stakeholder groups.

Research question 1: What is already there?

This is to identify the state of the art in terms of research and deployment possibilities.

Assessment method: mapping and deployment of nanotechnologies for water

desk research

bibliometric analysis

expert consultation

Result: mapping of advanced materials deployment for societal challenges and analysis of the potential for innovations in the areas.

Research question 2: How is NMP deployed (now) in the context of societal challenges in the fields of water?

This is to analyse to what extent nanotechnology research (and funding programmes) aims to address major societal challenges.

Assessment method: Qualitative analysis

participatory workshops

focus groups

individual expert interviews

Result: “soft” indicators for the social impact of NMP in the focus areas4.

4 The indicators for being of a general natural regarding deployment of nanotechnologies for water, health and energy in LA, are presented in the document “Final roadmap and recommendations for nano-health, nano-water & nano-energy deployment for societal challenges in Latin American Countries”, which is available at the NMP-DeLA website.



Research question 3: How can solutions, technologies and applications be produced in the future?

This question guides the formulation of the innovation strategy, which aims at supporting the successful commercialization of nanotechnology developments in the field of water in LA, by looking at the drivers and challenges for commercialization and how infrastructure can assist SMEs and academia in commercializa-tion efforts in LA. In order to achieve this, the innovation strategy is largely based on the results of outreach activities in LAC, i.e. on surveys, interviews and discussions with stakeholders.


desk research on international roadmaps of deployment of nanotechnologies

stakeholder consultation through website

survey with SMEs and academia in LAC


Result: Innovation strategy5

Research question 4: What are good practices and recommendations for deployment of nanotech-nologies for societal challenges related to water?

The purpose of this is to gain an understanding of inspiring cases and derive common conclusions for both EU and LAC.



focus groups

individual expert interviews

Result: Final summary roadmap on deployment of nanotechnologies in health, water and energy areas in LA.

Linkages to activities related to the roadmap construction are depicted in Figure 1.

5 The Innovation strategy is published as a separate document, available at NMP-DeLA’s website.



Figure 1. Linkages of activities in roadmap construction

2.3.2 Addressing Societal Challenges for water in the Roadmap

A number of experts (e.g. Foladori and Invernizzi 2005 and 2008; NIA 2013; Aydogan-Duda 2012; ETPN 2014) generally speak of nanotechnologies as being very useful means of tackling societal challenges direct-ly, including those that affect populations of developing countries, therefore also creating, even if indirectly, means of inclusiveness and poverty alleviation. There is an abundant stream of bibliometrics-based analysis informing the different applications of nanotechnologies (see for example and specifically considering their applications in the context of developing countries and societal challenges and LA (e.g. Kay and Shapira 2009; Cozzens et al 2013; European Commission 2013). However, considerable few analysis has been done on application of nanotechnologies for water.

The societal challenges for developing countries are the visible object of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), implemented by the United Nations (UN 2000, UN Millennium Project 2005). In Table 1 we present the MDGs related to water and use them as a guide for identifying the ways in which nanotechnology devel-opments can be deployed for improvement of water quality for the populations of developing countries.

Table 1. Millenium Development Goals related to environment and water

Goals Target Indicators

Ensure environmental sustainability Integrate principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse the loss of environmental resources

Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss

Halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

Improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020

Develop a global partnership for de-velopment

In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, espe-cially information and communications technologies

Source: United Nations (2000)



Significant for the deployment of nanotechnologies for the needs of developing countries populations are the findings of Salamanca-Buentello et al (2005). As presented in Table 2, they ranked with the help of experts, nanotechnology applications and their relations with the achievements of specific MDGs. Again, we focus on deployments related to water.

Table 2. Correlation between the top applications of nanotechnology for developing countries and the UN MDGs – In italics applications related to water treatment, remediation and monitoring

Applications of Nanotechnology Examples

Agricultural productivity

enhancement

Nanoporous zeolites for slow-release and efficient dosage of water and fertilizers for plants, and of nutrients and drugs for livestock

Nanocapsules for herbicide delivery

Nanosensors for soil quality and for plant health monitoring

Nanomagnets for removal of soil contaminants

Water treatment and remediation

Nanomembranes for water purification, desalination, and detoxification

Nanosensors for the detection of contaminants and pathogens

Nanoporous zeolites, nanoporous polymers, and attapulgite clays for water purification

Magnetic nanoparticles for water treatment and remediation

TiO2 nanoparticles for the catalytic degradation of water pollutants

Source: Salamanca-Buentello et al(2005:385)

The pertinence of the Salamanca-Buentello et al study is even more relevant when considering the ques-tions that guided the selection and ranking of the technologies. They asked the expert panellists “Which do you think are the nanotechnologies most likely to benefit developing countries in the areas of water, agricul-ture, nutrition, health, energy, and the environment in the next 10 years?6” That specific question and tech-nologies to be identified were judged against the following criteria:

Impact – how much difference will the technology make in improving water, agriculture, nutrition, health, energy, and the environment in developing countries?

Burden - will it address the most pressing needs?

Appropriateness - will it be affordable, robust, and adjustable to settings in developing countries, and will it be socially, culturally, and politically acceptable?

Feasibility - can it realistically be developed and deployed in a time frame of ten years?

Knowledge gap - does the technology advance quality of life by creating new knowledge?

Indirect benefits - does it address issues such as capacity building and income generation that have indirect, positive effects on developing countries?

The roadmaps were prepared taking into consideration these questions, since the environment we aim to promote deployment is the LA region, which is configured mostly of developing or emergent countries. We bear also in mind that governance of nanotechnology has been said to be essential for realizing economic growth and other societal benefits, protecting public health and environment, and supporting global coopera-tion and progress (Roco et al 2011b). According to Roco et al (2011b:3560), nanotechnology governance needs to be:

Transformative – including a results or projects-oriented focus on advancing multi-disciplinary and

6 These were target areas identified by UN in the Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg 2002, as cited by the authors.



multisector innovation

Responsible – including environmental, health and safety (EHS) and equitable access and benefits

Inclusive – participation of all agencies and stakeholders

Visionary – including long-term planning and anticipatory, adaptive measures

Roco et al (2011b) emphasized that nanotechnology can be used as an example of how an emerging field has evolved in tandem with consideration of environmental, health and safety (EHS) aspects as well as ethi-cal, legal and social implications (ELSI) or ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA). Nanotechnology has been governed by an international community of professionals engaged in research, education, production and societal assessment of nanotechnology, which has the potential to guide its applications for the well-being of populations and environment.

2.3.3 Addressing Capability Approach in the Roadmaps

Nussbaum’s adapted Capability approach7 (Malsch and Emond 2013) has also been used for the construc-tion of the roadmaps. This is a theory of human rights translated into a limited number of basic capabilities that each person anywhere in the world should be enabled to develop. Some of these capabilities are rele-vant to international cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) as well and they are discussed in the context of the deployment of the NMP-DeLA project:

Public engagement: are all stakeholders represented in discussions on the roadmap?

National sovereignty: is national sovereignty of the LA countries where the roadmaps should be de-ployed respected? What resources do they have and are they willing to invest by themselves? This calls for the suggestion of integrating the roadmaps into existing national plans for STI.

Foreign investment: will the roadmaps fit with the EU strategy for international cooperation under Horizon 2020? What about national strategies of EU Member States?

Private investment: can we convince industrial companies and venture capitalists to invest their own resources in implementing the roadmaps?

Access to higher education and research jobs: in the NMP-DeLA project we should follow an equal opportunity policy for selection of participants in the outreach activities as well as in the stakeholder workshops. In the roadmap we discuss education and training and equal opportunities policies for the organizations involved in implementing the roadmaps.

Target research to poverty and health-related problems: this is the leading force in the development of the roadmaps.

Environmental sustainability: take into account both EHS aspects of nanomaterials and expected environmental benefits.

We emphasize both the capabilities approach and the functions of nanotechnology governance as proposed by Roco et al (2011b) and presented in the previous Session.

The roadmap construction process with research questions and criteria and capabilities is depicted in Figure 2. Following this we present the roadmap referring to nanotechnologies for water.

7 Originally published as chapter 5 in Ineke Malsch, Ethics and Nanotechnology www.nanoarchive.org/11110

http://www.nanoarchive.org/11110



Figure 2. Research questions, criteria and capabilities in construction of NMP-DeLA roadmaps



3. NanoWater Roadmap

3.1 Water usage

By 2050, global water resources will have to support food and beverage production for an additional 2.7 bil-lion people. According to the United Nations, water withdrawals have already tripled over the last 50 years mainly due to rapid population growth. The population growth forecast in LA countries (+7%) greatly exceeds that of Europe (+1%) and North America (+4%), and will increase the pressure on good water resources sim-ilarly. Climate change and rising temperature will cause additional pressure on the fresh water resources. In-creasing temperatures will lead to a greater water demand for irrigation, hydration and cooling needs, and also higher treatment requirements due to a higher risk of water-borne pathogens (Frost and Sullivan 2012).

Figure 3 shows the evolution of water use during the last century, divided into three main sectors, agricul-ture, industry and domestic use. While industrial and domestic demand for water increased dramatically in the 20th century, agriculture, closely related to the need for increased food production, still accounts for the majority.

Figure 3. Global water withdrawal by sector, 1900-2025

Source: United Nations, Human Development Report (2006)

Although the domestic use of water is smaller compared to the volumes withdrawn for industrial and agricul-tural purposes, the availability of water of appropriate quality for domestic use is critical. It is estimated that more than one billion people in the world lack access to safe water and within couple of decades, the current water supply will decrease by one-third. There are more people without access to tap water in cities today than there were at the end of the 1990s.

2.4 Demand for innovative water treatment solutions in LA countries

From a global average perspective, Latin America is water-rich. With 500 million inhabitants or 8% of the



world population distributed in 20 countries, the region possesses 31% of the freshwater resource in the world. In comparison, Asia, where 60% of the world population lives, has only 28% of the global freshwater resource . However, this water is not equally distributed, as illustrated by the map in Figure 4. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) - the Gulf of Mexico Basin, the South Atlantic Basin and the La Plata basin, comprising 25% of the region's territory, are home to "40% of the population containing only 10% of the region's water resources". These are also key industrial regions with some of the most water intensive industrial sectors (Brasco 2013).

Ironically, in Latin America, where water is in principal abundant, 38 million people – nearly 7% of the popu-lation – are without access to safe water. In some cases, they have to spend long hours every day fetching

water (GCA 2011).

Figure 4. LAC regions and water scarcity LAC

Source: FAO (2007)

Climate change can dramatically worsen the situation. Bradley et al (2006) present data on the effect of melt-ing glaciers, especially in Southern Andes. Many large cities and irrigation systems in the Andes depend al-most entirely on high-altitude glacier water stocks to complement rainfall during the dry season. As these wa-ter-resource buffers shrink, further alternative water supplies may become very expensive. Less water inten-sive agricultural practices need to be installed and solutions for water recycling developed.

Another effect of climate change is extreme flooding events, inducing a decline in drinking water for the rea-son that municipal sewer systems may overflow during extreme rainfall events, pouring untreated sewage in-

to drinking water supplies.



2.4.1 Use of water in the water intensive industry

In LA, the industry uses circa 10 % of all fresh water withdrawal (Figure 5). The main water intensive indus-tries in LA countries are, depending on the region: mining, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and energy. Above all, access to clean water is critical for the food industry, This sector is closely related to agriculture and a significant sector in all LA countries. Although the industrial share of water usage is minor in LAC countries, from the water remediation perspective the water intensive industries’ role is significant.

Frost and Sullivan (2012) projected that investments into water-related infrastructure in LA and the markets for water and wastewater treatment equipment, e.g. in the food and beverage sector, will grow circa 5 % every year from 2011-2020.

Figure 5. Demand for water in different sectors 2011

Source: Frost and Sullivan (2012)

To illustrate the need for innovative water solutions we have viewed the typical water management situation in a couple of LA countries:

Mexico

Water scarcity in Mexico is regarded as significant (Taylor 2008). With an increasing demand and a limited supply, certain cities in Mexico risk running out of water.

In Mexico, agriculture accounts for 77% of water use, industry 10% and domestic uses account for 13%. Alt-hough agriculture represents the largest consumer almost half of Mexico’s irrigation districts is said to be in a state of slow deterioration and leakages, leading to inefficient usage of water.

Almost 70% of Mexico’s water is extracted from underground aquifers. However, the rate of extraction has far exceeded replenishment. Currently, a sixth of aquifers in Mexico are severely exploited, all of which are located in the water scarce regions. Continual draining of water from such aquifers have resulted in Mexico City sinking 10 metres in the past century (Sample 2004), clearly indicating that solutions for water saving and reuse are required.



Industrial end-users in Mexico include many sectors, namely: oil and gas, mining, petrochemical, pulp and paper, food and beverage and chemical industry. According to Frost and Sullivan’s report (2013), many in-dustries have taken the decision to recycle water as a socially responsible action, and when water has an in-creasing price, many industries have chosen to install their own water treatment plants. The consequence of this is that the volume of treated water has doubled during the past 10 years. Still, in total, only 36 % of wastewater is treated (Frost and Sullivan 2013).

Brazil

Although Brazil has always been considered a country rich in water, with around five times the world average of ca 43000 m³ per year and capita, the resources are unevenly distributed among regions.

In the past 70 years, most activities around water resource management have been closely linked to infra-structure development for hydroelectric power generation, and only in the past decade to the development of irrigation infrastructure, especially in the water scarce and poor Northeast region with 2 million households.

About 60% of all water withdrawal in Brazil is used for irrigation and livestock (FAO Aquastat a), which is lower than the average water withdrawal for irrigation in LA at 71%. Domestic consumption accounts for 23% (ANA 2012). Sewage is a key cause of water pollution in Brazil, a major problem that impairs quality of life and economic development in large metropolitan areas and disproportionally affecting the life of the poor in the slums of Brazil’s largest cities (WHO/UNICEF 2014). 17% of water withdrawal is used in industries (ANA 2012).

Even the fresh water resources of the most water-rich area in the region, the Amazon basin, are being put at risk by increasing urbanization, manufacturing, deforestation, and mining activities, according to Gouvea (2015).

Chile

According to statistics from 2006, only 4% of water withdrawals in Chile are used in the municipal sector whereas agriculture accounts for 83% (Table 3). 40% of the industrial use (13% of the total) is by the mining industry (FAO Aquastat b). In Northern regions of Chile, pollution from mining effluent is a major issue. In Central Chile, general industrial pollution is an issue. Very often these discharges go untreated directly into river basins, lakes and irrigation channels. Northern Chile is an area highly affected by arsenic contamination (Perez and Cirelli 2010).

Table 3. Water withdrawal per sector in Chile

Sector Sub-sector Volume extracted (million m3/year)

Percentage (%) of total

Agriculture 29419 83.0 Crop Irrigation 16522 46.6

Aquaculture 12673 36.6 Irrigation of forest plantations 123 0.3 Livestock (watering and cleaning) 101 0.3

Industrial 4744 13.4 Industrial (excluding mining and

cooling) 2646 7.5

Mining 1981 5.6 Cooling power plants 117 0.3

Municipal 1267 3.6

Total 35430 100.0

Source: FAO (online)

Argentina

Argentina has one of the highest levels of per capita water usage in the world at around 500 l/day (World



Bank 2000). In Argentina, the availability of water outstrips demand, yet 11% of the population still lacks piped water (Valente 2011).

As a comparison, Brazil can extract 6,950km3 a year, and on average each Brazilian consumes 216m3 a year. In Argentina, in contrast, yearly withdrawal capacity is 994 km3, and consumption is 745m3 a person annually, more than three times the average of Brazil. Nevertheless, not everyone in Argentina benefits from a good water supply. Areas in the North of the country, and in the poorest and most populous districts on the periphery of Buenos Aires, have little access to water.

In Argentina, water is used primarily in agriculture and livestock (71% and 9% respectively). Household con-sumption counts for 13%, and industry only 7% (GCA 2011).

Central Argentina is the area most affected by arsenic contamination in the world (Perez and Cirelli, 2010).

2.5 Background: Nanotechnologies for Water

General applications of nanotechnologies for water fall under remediation of polluted water, potabilization of

water, desalination and nanodevices (sensors for water quality monitoring). Various enginered nanomaterials

have been developed for water treatment applications (Figure 6). Table 4 list some of their beneficial charac-

teristics which support their potential for water treatment.

Table 4. Examples of potential applications of nanotechnology in water/wastewater treatment

Applications Examples of nanomaterials Some of novel properties

Adsorption CNTs/nanoscale metal oxide and nanofibres High specific surface area and assessable adsorption sites, selec-tive and more adsorption sites, short intraparticle diffusion dis-tance, tunable surface chemistry, easy reuse, and so forth.

Disinfection Nanosilver/titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO2) and CNTs

Strong antimicrobial activity, low toxicity and cost, high chemical stability ease of use, and so forth.

Photocatalysis Nano-TiO2 and Fullerene derivatives

Photocatalytic activity in solar spectrum, low human toxicity, high stability and selectivity, low cost, and so forth.

Membranes Nano-Ag/TiO2/Zeolites/Magnetite and CNTs

Strong antimicrobial activity, hydrophilicity low toxicity to humans, high mechanical and chemical stability, high permeability and se-lectivity, photocatalytic activity, and so forth.

Source: Amin et al (2014)



Figure 6. Nanotechnology applications in water treatment

Source: Savage and Diallo (2005)

Notably, nanotechnology contributes to water safety by:

Innovative filtration solutions

The types of membrane processes that are commonly used in water purification include microfiltration, ultra-

filtration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) for water and wastewater treatment and nanofiltration and reverse os-

mosis (RO) for desalination and water reclamation.

Nanotechnology is used to increase the efficiency of water filters. Membrane techniques using filter media

with carbon nanotubes, nanoporous ceramics, and magnetic nanoparticles can be used to remove impurities

from drinking water and could potentially remove bacteria, viruses, water-borne pathogens, lead, uranium

and arsenic, among other contaminants (Hillie and Hlophe 2007). Magnetic nanoparticles could be used to

filter water at the point of use to remove e.g. arsenic (Yavuz et al 2006). Nanoparticle filters can be used to

lower the energy requirement of membrane filtration by adding antifouling qualities to the membrane or cata-

lysing the degradation of organic particles and pesticides from water. Nanofiltration devices have also been

developed for military and emergency purposes (Frost and Sullivan 2014, Narayan 2010).

The immobilization of metallic nanoparticles in membranes has been proven to be effective for the degrada-

tion and dechlorination of toxic contaminants (Xu et al 2009). Inorganic membranes containing nano-TiO2 or

modified nano-TiO2 have been used effectively for catalytic degradation of contaminants, particularly chlorin-

ated compounds. The use of TiO2 immobilized on a polyethylene support and a TiO2 slurry in combination



with polymeric membranes has proved very effective in degrading 1,2-dichlorobenzene and pharmaceuti-

cals, respectively (Amin et al 2013).

Removal of harmful pollutants

Nanosorbents

Nanosorbents have very high and specific sorption capacity having wide potential in water purification, re-

mediation and treatment process. Commercialized nanosorbents are very few, mainly from the U.S. and

Asia, but research is ongoing in large numbers targeting various organic and inorganic contaminants in water

(Prachi et al 2013).

Magnetic nanosorbents are beneficial in treating wastewater and have proved to be interesting tools for or-

ganic contaminants removal. The nanosorbents used for magnetic separation are prepared by coating mag-

netic nanoparticles with ligands that bind to specific chemicals. Different methods, such as magnetic forces,

cleaning agents, ion exchangers and many more, are used to remove nanosorbents from the site of treat-

ment for regeneration or disposal. Regenerated nanosorbents are cost effective and promoted for the com-

mercial recovery of valuable metals from wastewater (Forsman et al 2014, Prachi et al 2013).

Disinfection

Various natural and engineered nanomaterials have shown potent antimicrobial properties, such as photo-

catalytic production of reactive oxygen ions that damage cell components and viruses (e.g. TiO2, ZnO, car-

bon nanotubes, silver nanoparticles, chitosan and fullerol) (Ahmed et al 2013).

Sensor technology

In the field of water purification, nanodevices have been developed that can detect pollutants, such as bac-

terial contamination, and low levels of heavy metals. The cost of producing nano-enabled devices is estimat-

ed to be affordable and they are more widely installed due to their smaller size and high sensitivity (Volsun

2012).

Irrigation

An additional application where nanotechnology can have a significant impact is in the optimization of irriga-

tion. This is an area with huge global importance, as agriculture and food production is the sector of largest

water withdrawals across the globe (Fig 3). In addition to degrading pesticides and disinfecting the water for

water reuse, nanomaterials can have a wider in situ effect. An example of a nano-application is zeolites for

water retention. Zeolites are naturally occurring crystalline aluminium silicates that can significantly improve

the water retention of sandy soils and increase porosity in clay soils (IFPRI 2011).

However, the most important challenge for the water purification industry remains the costs associated with

treating the water. The performance-against-cost factor of the water purification technology will play an im-

portant role in determining the acceptance of the technology at a grassroots level. Ideally, for domestic use

the water purifier should have the capability to purify more than once per day (for a family of four) and be ef-

fective for at least 20–30 m3 of water (Frost and Sullivan 2014). Thus, the affordability of the water purifica-

tion technology, and the robustness and durability of the material used for water purification, are crucial fac-

tors for successful commercial adoption of a water purification technology



3 State of the art in nanotechnologies for water in LA countries

This chapter deals with the state of the art in research, education, industry and ethical, legal and societal as-pects (ELSA) dealing with production and application of nanotechnologies for water in LA and in relation to Europe.

3.1 Advances in nanotechnology in LAC

R&D and deployment of nanotechnology in LA were mapped to build a base for the construction of the

roadmap. Data was gathered through bibliometric studies and has been reported by Invernizzi et al (2015).

The results were clustered into three main water application categories: water desalination, contaminated

water remediation and water potabilization. The document provides a list of leading authors, groups, institu-

tions and main international collaborations with regards to expertise in those areas. A summary of the main

findings of the study of Invernizzi et al (2015) is provided in the following paragraphs.

The research area is very new in LA countries. On the topic of water potabilization the first publications in the

region appeared during the 1990s, and on the topic of water remediation, the first articles were published in

the following decade (2000s). Of the three main water application categories, the research activities in desal-

ination seem to play a minor role, whereas the number of scientific articles on contaminated water remedia-

tion increased strongly after 2005. Based on the publication number, contaminated water remediation is thus

the most important subject for nanowater research in LA countries. Taking a closer look at the production of

some of the authors listed in the bibliometric map, one can conclude that the articles also described work on

nanosensor development with applications in the water sector.

3.2 Research Base

A detailed qualitative analysis and collection of contact data was conducted for those countries that were identified as remarkably productive by the preceding bibliometric study. A summary of results follows with the proviso that due to the different amount and quality of information available, the information between coun-tries is not easily comparable. Country-specific data is based on the bibliometric mapping by Invernizzi et al (2015).

Brazil

15 Brazilian research groups work on nanotechnology for desalination, potabilization, environmental remedi-ation and sensors/monitoring. Three additional groups cover a broader scope and include water applications as well.

The following laboratories are active in nanotechnology for water: Desalinization Reference Laboratory (LABDES) at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Campina Grande8; Advanced Water Treatment and Re-use Laboratory (LATAR) at the Department of Water and Sanitation, São Carlos Engineering School9; Mineral and Environmental Technology Laboratory at the Engineering School of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)10.

Koiti Araki’s laboratory at USP is working on nanocomposites for the removal of soluble pollutants and the

8 http://www.labdes.ufcg.edu.br

9 http://www1.eesc.usp.br/shs/index.php/area-1/19-latar

10 http://www.ufrgs.br/ltm



treatment of water. At the Laboratory on Mineral and Environmental technologies/UFRGS they study nano-bubbles: generation, properties and potential applications on water/wastewater treatment, in cooperation with PETROBRAS and another company11.

Mexico

Research on nanotechnology for water is spread over a wide range of universities and research centres, with only one or a few researchers in each group. There are research groups in 27 research centres or institutes, in ten institutions across the country.

Regarding funding, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) Sectoral Fund have each funded two projects on nanotechnology for water. David Smith, in his presentation at the NMP-DeLA workshop in Mexico reported that CONACYT has in the past hosted a network on water. Maria Teresa Alarcon Herrera, in the same workshop reported that the Centre for Research on Advanced Materials (CIMAV) in Durango is working on nanomaterials and drinking water treatment technologies12.

Argentina

Nine research groups are working on nanotechnology for remediation of contaminated water: Centro de In-geniería en Medio Ambiente at the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (ITBA)13, Programa de Química Combinatoria de Materiales Avanzados and Laboratory of the Program of Nano and Mesomaterials at the National University in Rio Cuarto; the Institute of Research in Catalysis and Petrochemistry (INCAPE)14 at the National University of Litoral in Santa Fé; Laboratory of Species Highly Reactive ((LEAR) at the Re-search Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physical Chemistry (INIFTA)15; the Atomic Centre of Bariloche of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CAB-CNEA) 16; Fisioquímica Area de Catálisis ambiental. Mate-riales nanoestruturados INCAPE; the Technology of Water Remediation Group at CNEA/University of San Martín; the Optical Laser of Materials and Eletromagnetic Applications Group (GLOmAe) at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA)17; and the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA)18.

At the National University of La Plata, Daniel Martire is working on nanomaterials for the adsorption and pho-todegradation of contaminants, and Eduardo Miró at the National University of Litoral focuses on Nano-materials for Catalytic Processes applied to water treatment19.

Chile

Three research projects on nano for water were carried out at the Centre for the Study of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Universidad de Concepción. Relevant research at CEDENNA includes synthetic nanoparticles for eliminating arsenic in the North of Chile, and for perchlorate remediation in soil, as well as for cleaning water from heavy metals and synthesis of new materials for water decontamination. Bernabé Rivas Quiroz’ group at Univ. de Concepcion is working

11 See their presentations during the NMP-deLA workshop in Curitiba, 28-29 May 2015, www.nmp-dela.eu

12 See their presentations during NMP-deLA workshops, www.nmp-dela.eu

13 www.itba.edu.ar/cima

14 WWW.fiq.unl.edu.ar/incape/

15 www.lear.quimica.unlp.edu.ar

16 http://física.cab.cnea.gov.ar/resonancias/

17 http://laboratorios.fi.uba.ar/glomae/

18 www.inta.gov.ar

19 See his presentation during the NMP-deLA workshop in Curitiba, 28-29 May 2015, www.nmp-dela.eu

http://www.nmp-dela.eu/



on polymer-clay nanocomposites for oxyanions removal20.

Colombia

Two research groups at two separate universities are working on environmental remediation of water: the Javeriana University and the Medellín University. The Colombian nanotechnology network RedNANOCo-lombia has developed a roadmap for nanotechnology including nanomaterials and sensors for water treat-ment and energy production in the same context. Challenges include green synthesis and processing, scal-ing-up, life-cycle of the nanomaterials used, and a holistic approach21.

Uruguay

Only the Technology Cluster Chemistry Department at the University of the Republic is working on nano-technology for water.

3.3 Research Collaboration with Europe

Research collaboration is an effective means of creating knowledge and overcoming lack of human, intellec-tual and material resources. This might be especially true for LA countries, although specific investigation was not done regarding human and material resources available. In this we focus on bibliometric data shown by Invernizzi et al and examples of existing collaboration between European and Latin American organiza-tions.

The bibliometric mapping (Invernizzi et al 2015) provides an overview of co-publication patterns, scientific authors and affiliated organisations in nanotechnology research with focus on water. The major findings of this analysis are as follows:

Based on co-authorship analysis, Brazil has developed the strongest research cooperation

with European institutes than any other LA country, and this is also stonger than its cooperation

with other LA countries. The United States is a strong research partner, particularly for Brazil,

Mexico and Argentina.

Joint publications in the fields of nanotechnology and water between researchers from the

European Research Area (ERA) and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean

States (CELAC) (ERA-CELAC) amounted to 343. The most frequently involved partner coun-

tries on Latin-American side were Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, and on European side were

Spain, Germany and France. For nanotechnology and water co-publications, the highest aver-

age impact involves authors from Colombia, the Netherlands and Hungary.

ERA-CELAC co-publications were mainly published in journals classified in chemical sub-fields:

Chemical Physics, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and Physical Chemistry. It could be ob-

served that water-related research in nanotechnology has a higher degree of interdisciplinarity

than other nano-related research.

On an institutional level, for nanotechnology and water co-publications with CELAC, the most

frequently involved European institutions were the Instituto Superior Tecnico and the Univer-

sidade do Porto in Portugal and the German Universität Paderborn. On the CELAC side, the

most frequently involved institutions were all from Brazil: USP, UNESP and Federal University

20 See his presentation during the NMP-deLA workshop in Curitiba, 28-29 May 2015, www.nmp-dela.eu

21 www.rednanocolombia.org see also presentation by Edgar Gonzalez during NMP-DeLA workshop in Curitiba, 28-29 May 2015, www.nmp-dela.eu

http://www.rednanocolombia.org/




of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Interviews with NMP-DeLA community of interest members (stakeholders who have voluntarily engaged in the stakeholders group of the project) identified individuals and organizations that are already involved in EU-Latin American cooperation in nanotechnology for water, including the following two examples:

The NHL University of Applied Science in the Netherlands is, among others, cooperating with three large universities in Brazil: Universidad Federal de Viçosa (UFV), USP, Federal University of Ceará (UFC) on physically driven systems, combining electrohydrodynamics with nanotech-nology for evaporation and distillation. Furthermore, NHL, USP and Arcadis (a consultancy firm from the Netherlands) are engaged in a project on nitrate removal from ground water that start-ed in October/November 2014.

The environmental nanotechnology group at the University of Bath (UK) works on anodic metal membranes, where pore size can be reduced through hydrothermal steaming and branched pores fabricated by sudden changes in voltage. They are already cooperating in LA with UNICAMP, USP, Colombia National University (UNAL) (Colombia), the National Autonomous University of Mexico UNAM (Mexico) and with South Africa (Stellenbosch).

In general, expert interviews with researchers from Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Argentina22, show that

most research organizations working with environmental and/or energy applications are collaborating with

European research organizations. The collaboration with European partners was mentioned more frequently

compared to collaboration with the US or other LA countries. The collaboration with European organizations

is carried out on both an informal level, cooperation programmes for student exchange (e.g.

http://www.milset.org/) and to some extent through funded projects. However, the number of co-funded pro-

jects was appraised as low. Several experts expressed their wish to strengthen their collaboration with Euro-

pean countries. Furthermore, the current link with national industries (water intensive industries, such as

mining and water companies) was in many cases considered very weak.

3.4 Applications of water nanotechnology research in LA for societal challenges

Interviews with researchers revealed that R&D in nanoscience related to water deals with development of nanodevices for on-line sensing of metals and borate in water (Chile, Uruguay) and development of nanopar-ticles for water remediation based on sorption (Chile, Argentina), as well as catalytic degradation of nitrogen compounds, organic pollutants and reduction of mercorous chloride (Argentina). The interviewed research-ers mentioned clear connections between their work and the main social challenges. Their role does not only relate to technological solutions for improving the availability of safe, clean water and reducing environmental pollution. Developing solutions that utilizes national resources (foremost minerals) and increases their value, and teaching and advising young students and researchers in this thematic area were also mentioned as im-portant factors for the overall development of the country.

As a specific contribution to the main social challenges for water, the removal of arsenic for potabilisation was mentioned. Arsenic contamination affects people in mining areas (e.g. in Chile, Mexico) and in areas with naturally high levels of arsenic in groundwater (e.g. Argentina). This challenge was seen as important for several LA countries.

To note is that much ongoing research in nanoscience in LA relates to the generation and characterization (including stability in real environments) of nanomaterials for general applications, including environmental solutions. Although this work ultimately will serve the development of water solutions, the work as such is not specifically focused on a certain function.

Focus group work on the water theme revealed that the high cost of the nanomaterials is considered a barri-

er to the application of nano-based solutions for societal challenges. Further investigation for lower cost solu-

22 Attempts were made to hear also researchers from Brazil and Mexico through local project partners but there were not results from these two countries.



tions is needed. When moving from basic research towards applications of nanotechnologies, these should

be aligned closely to solve concrete problems in Latin America and prove their effectiveness through real so-

cio-economic impact.

Demonstration projects to show the applicability of new innovations are crucial to enhance the deployment of

new inventions. These demonstrations should be installed in nationally relevant environments such as drink-

ing water production sites and mining water remediation.

Applied research with local relevance would involve, above all, potabilisation of water. For example, Mexico

is today the largest consumer of bottled water in the world and families sometimes spend as much as 10% of

their incomes on water. This is double what the Inter-American Development Bank estimates they should be

spending (Malkin 2012). Further demonstration cases with potential impact are solutions for remediation and

reuse of industrial (mining, food, chemical) process water.

Currently the research focuses on advanced materials per se, with applications as a secondary focus. As

most research is still a, the potential applications and benefits are yet to be seen.

3.5 Education in nanotechnology for water applications

A single example, mentioned by a community of interest member, of collaboration for education in nanotech-nology for water was found between the NHL University of Applied Science in the Netherlands and the Fed-eral University of Viçosa (UFV) and the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) in Brazil. These institutions have agreed to exchange students in the topic of water technology and physically driven systems, combining elec-trohydrodynamics with nanotechnology.

3.6 Water Sector Industry and Investment

In Brazil, six companies apply nanotechnology to water treatment, including three spin-offs from university research groups: Ocean Par23, Contech Produtos Biodegradáveis Ltda24 and H2Life Brasil25, in Sao Paulo; Perenne Equipamentos e Sistemas de Água in Bahia; Ponto Quântico Nanodispositivos in Pernambuco; and POLICLAY – Nanotech Indústria e Comércio Ltda in Ceará26. (See Invernizzi et al, 2015 for more infor-mation).

According to an NMP-DeLA community of interest member, two Dutch engineering companies are interested in nanotechnology for water and have activities in Brazil: Arcadis27 and Paques28. Arcadis applies electrohy-drodynamics, including nanoscience, in the production of encapsulation and nanoparticles, and nitrate re-moval from water. Paques incorporates nanoscience in electrohydric electronisation for the production of bi-oplastics, and has solutions for the removal of ammonia from waste water - without nanotechnology .

23 http://www.aquamarewater.com/

24 http://www.contechbrasil.com

25 http://h2life.com.br/index.php?p=noticias&a=sistema-h2life

26 http://www.nutec.ce.gov.br/index.php/nutec-partec/empresas-incubadas/residentes/43491

27 http://www.arcadis.nl/index.aspx

28 http://en.paques.nl/



A small Dutch company, Magneto Special Anodes29, is interested in entering the Brazilian market. It produc-es electrodes for electrochemical systems and for sea water electrolysis. The Brazilian sanitation company Segolin is also interested in nanotechnology.

In Guanajuato, Mexico, a collaboration group of researchers carried out a pilot study together with experts from Rice University, USA, and water state officials of Guanajuato, to compare nano-enabled water treat-ment systems with 3 commercial systems (Read nanomagnetite, Rockwood and Sigma-Aldrich). The nano-enabled system worked for 4 months and is affordable at pilot scale (US$0.16/l). The pilot facility now needs to be scaled to make it competitive. In comparison, in India, Professor Pradeep has used nanotechnology to remove arsenic and is working on adapting it to fluorides, in a more expensive process: US$0.78/l.30 Zayago, Foladori and Arteaga (2012) have identified 8 companies applying nanotechnology in the water sector.

According to an NMP-DeLA community of interest member, several French companies are also interested in nanotechnology for water in cooperation with LA, including Veolia and Suez-Environnement. Other French and Dutch companies are active in nanotechnology for water applications, but it is not clear whether they are interested in cooperating with LA.

According to the OECD (2011), General Electric31, Siemens32 and Dow Corning33 are also interested in nan-otechnology for water. However, Dow Corning does not include nanotechnology in its current R&D strategy according to an interviewed expert. In this regard, a distinction should be made between nanotechnology and nanofiltration, since the latter is not based on nanomaterials.

3.7 Policy and funding for NMP for Water

At international, extra European level, several institutions are working on the global water issue, but innova-tion in general and nanotechnology in particular are not among the priorities in their policy or funding strate-gy. An example of such is the World Bank Water programme.34

According to Invernizzi et al (2015) the Brazilian government has not explicitly targeted water in its national nanotechnology strategies since 2004, but water applications are covered in the priority “environment” in the current 2012-2015 strategy in general and in the national nanotechnology laboratory system (SisNANO) in particular. Under several calls for proposals by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), seven projects targeting nanotechnology for water applications have been funded, mainly targeting waterway decontamination. Much of the funded research in nanomaterials, sensors, and membranes, with multiple uses, can be applied to the decontamination of water and the production of pota-ble water.

In Brazil, the Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) is exploring how nanotechnology can contribute to the main goals of the MCTI coordination on water management. MCTI also foresees a coopera-tion programme on nanotechnology and water in the context of the EU-funded NANoREG35 project, which aims to define a common European approach to the regulatory testing of manufactured nanomaterials.

29 www.magneto.nl

30 See for more information presentation of Maria Teresa Alarcon, CIMAV during the NMP-DeLA workshop in Curitiba and Invernizzi, Foladori and Lindorfer, 2014, www.nmp-dela.eu

31 http://www.gewater.com/product-directory.html

32 http://www.energy.siemens.com/hq/pool/hq/industries-utilities/oil-gas/water-solutions/pdf/fact-sheet-water-solutions.pdf

33 http://www.dowwaterandprocess.com/en/Products/Reverse_Osmosis_and_Nanofiltration

34 http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water

35 C.f. presentation Anna Tempesta during NMP-DeLA workshop in Curitiba, 28-29 June 2015, www.nmp-dela.eu


http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water




4 Nanotechnology for Water - Relevance to Latin America

This section provides an overview of the state of the art and drivers, challenges and opportunities related to nanotechnology for water taking into account their relevance in LA countries. Following the bibliometric map-ping on nanowater research activities the analysis will mainly cover remediation of polluted water, potabilisa-tion and desalination.

4.1 Water remediation - Pollutant removal

Water remediation

Large quantities of industrial effluent contain high levels of toxic chemicals including metals. Furthermore, mining and mineral processing operations also discharge toxic liquid wastes into water bodies (Coetser et al 2007). Moreover, groundwater can be contaminated by spills, excessive agricultural application of pesticides and fertilisers, past waste disposal practices and leaking underground storage tanks (Mohmood et al 2013).

The presence of different organic and metal contaminants in these, as well as other environmental water

sources, has a large environmental, public health and economic impact. In addition to highly toxic elements,

such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) (Lee et alet al2005a), inor-

ganic anions such as nitrate and perchlorate are also of concern.

Many traditional water remediation technologies, such as biological degradation, activated carbon adsorp-

tion, chemical precipitation or chemical oxidation, are often costly and time-consuming. Thus, the ability to

reduce toxic contaminants to a safe level and to do so rapidly, efficiently, and within reasonable costs is im-

portant (Savage and Diallo 2005). Nanotechnology could play an important role in this regard. An active

emerging area of research is the development of novel nanomaterials with increased affinity, capacity and

selectivity for metals and other contaminants. The benefits from the use of nanomaterials may derive from

their enhanced reactivity, surface area, and sequestration characteristics (Zhang 2003, Li et al 2006b). A va-

riety of nanomaterials are in various stages of R&D, each possessing unique functionalities that are poten-

tially applicable to the remediation of industrial effluents, groundwater, surface water and drinking water (Ta-

ble 5).

Table 5. Examples of pollutants removed by nanoscale materials

Pollutant Nanoparticle/nanomaterial

Solvents (Toluene, 1,2-Dichlorobenzene, ethylbenzene, benzene dimethylbenzene)

Nanocrystalline zeolites, Graphitized carbon nanotubes (CNT) CNT func-tionalized with Fe

Humic acid Synthetic zeolite nanoparticles

Metal ions

CeO2-CNTs, Carbon nanoparticles conjugated withpolyethylenimine, CNT sheets, Silica coated Fe3O4, Fe3O4 particles encapsulated in thiol contain-ing polymers, Fe4O3 magnetic nanoparticles coated with humic acid, Single- and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, CNT functionalized with Fe, Zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI)

Organic toxins (p-Nitrophenol Trihalomethanes (THMs), roxarsone , herbicides, cyanobacterial toxins, PCBs chlorinated organic compounds)

CNT functionalized with polymer, Single and Multi-walled carbon nanotubes, Zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI)

Arsenate CNT hydrite

Mercury Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres withnanosized Fe3O4, Fe3O4 nanopar-ticles functionalized with dithiocarbamate groups

Source: modified from Mohmood et al (2013)



Water treatment is quickly emerging as one of the most significant challenges facing the oil & gas industry. With large volumes of water used in the oil/gas production process, water is increasingly moving from an op-erational issue to one of strategic significance. Water produced during oil and gas extraction operations, constitutes the industry’s most important waste stream by volume.

Nanomaterials for the remediation of water in the oil and gas industry should have a high sorption capacity for heavy metals, oil and other organic matters. Furthermore, in order to be economically feasible, the parti-cles need to be easily collected after wastewater treatment and cleaned for re-use. For example, porous bo-ron nitride (BN) nanosheets have been reported to have great potential for effective cleaning of oil mixed wastewater (Lei et al 2013).

Today most applications of nanotechnology in mine water remediation have essentially followed the general application of nanomaterials in wastewater treatment and purification. Most research in this area, especially relating to mine water issues, has been performed at a laboratory scale. Large scale implementation of nanotechnology by the mining industry is not expected for a few decades (Hu and Apblett 2014). As water from mines contains potentially valuable minerals, the use of magnetic nanoparticles combined with recovery and regeneration is especially appealing. Magnetic nanoparticles for recovery of, e.g. gold from water solu-tions has been demonstrated at the laboratory scale (Forsman et al 2014).

One topical object for nanoparticle based solutions is the removal of arsenic contamination. Arsenic occurs at varying concentrations in the earth’s crust, from which it is mobilised by various biological and anthropo-genic activities into groundwater and contaminates drinking water sources. Arsenic contamination of water is a global problem: it affects wells in countries with poor water management systems, is a common pollutant in mining wastewaters and bears high health risks. Arsenic incidents with severe health effects have been not-ed at least in Northern Chile, Mexico and Argentina (Mandal and Suzuki 2002). According to Larkins et al (2009) affordable arsenic removal can be done by using synthetic clay. Also Zinc oxide nanoparticles could help remove arsenic using a point-of-source purification device. Approaches based on trapping arsenic con-taminants on magnetic nanoparticles have also been developed (Yavuz et al 2009, Tuutijärvi 2013).

4.2 Potabilisation

Depending on the quality of the raw water, production of drinking water requires different steps using a com-bination of physical, chemical, physico-chemical and/or biological processes. Generally, surface waters re-quire more comprehensive treatment than groundwater. Potabilisation aims at removing organic matter, hazardous metals, bacteria and viruses from the water.

A typical set of processes comprises screening for the removal of large floating items, coagulation or floccu-lation of organic matter, filtration to remove particles and bacteria, activated carbon filters to remove smell, taste and colour, advanced filtration for disinfection and chlorination.

Various filters are applied, such as sand or activated carbon. Coarse sand filters are typically positioned at the beginning of the process and capture iron and manganese. Activated-carbon filters are positioned at the end of the process and capture residual organic compounds.

Fine filtering using membrane technology, is also a possible option for advanced treatment of surface water for drinking water production. Membrane properties important for the operator of a water treatment plant are high rejection of dissolved organics, low salt rejection, low energy consumption and stable performance after repetitive cleaning. For a potable water treatment plant, in order to be economically and operationally suc-cessful these four criteria have to be met. Generally, membrane processes are considered first when con-ventional water treatment techniques, such as sedimentation, flocculation, coagulation, and activated car-bon, are not able to remove pollutants to meet drinking water quality specifications.

As membrane processes are considered key components of advanced water purification and desalination technologies, there is a continuous search for new materials that are more selective and less prone to foul-ing. In this regard, nanomaterials (e.g., carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles and dendrimers) are contributing to the development of more efficient and cost-effective water filtration processes (Table 6).



Table 6. Examples of nanostructured and nanoreactive membranes for use in water purification

Membrane Pollutant

Nanostructured membrane, Carbon nanotubes Bacteria and viruses

Nanoreactive membrane Alumina membrane formed from A-alumoxane Synthetic dyes

Alumina membranes functionalized with poly(styrene sulphonate) or poly(allylamine hydrochloride)

Divalent cations (e.g. Fe2+, Ca2+ and Hg2+)

Silica and cellulose-based membranes functionalized with amino acid homopolymers Metal ions

Alumina or polymeric membranes with gold nanoparticles 4-Nitrophenol

Polymer-impregnated ceramic TiO2 filters Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Polymer-impregnated ceramic alumina and silicon-carbon filters Trihalogen methanes, PAHs, pesticide

Nanosilver impregnate membranes Bacteria

Ag/TiO2 nanofibre membrane Bacteria

TiO2/Al2O3 composite membranes Direct Black 168 dye

TiO2 photocatalytic nanofiltration membrane Methyl orange, azo-dye

Source: Mohmood et al (2013:)

Challenges with emerging micropollutants

The occurrence of new/emerging micropollutants, e.g. endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), in water or wastewater is creating new challenges for conventional water/wastewater treatment plants. The traditional materials and treatment technologies, like activated carbon, oxidation, activated sludge, nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, are not effective to treat complex and complicated polluted waters comprising pharmaceuticals, personal care products, surfactants and various industrial additives. Nanoparti-cles can be modified towards the high capacity removal of such compounds by adsorptive and/or degrading mechanisms.

Disinfection

Bioactive nanoparticles are playing an important role in water disinfection. Contamination from bacteria, pro-tozoans, and viruses is possible in both ground and surface water. A variety of strong oxidants such as chlo-rine are normally used as disinfectants for pathogens in water treatment. However, these compounds tend to generate toxic byproducts, such as trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids and aldehydes; so alternative disin-fectants are also needed. Ozone (O3), on the other hand, does not have any residual effects, but produces unknown organic reaction products. For UV disinfection, longer exposure time is required for effectiveness, but there is no residual effect.

There are many different types of nanomaterials, such as silver, titanium oxide, magnesium, zinc and chi-tosan, capable of inactivating waterborne disease-causing microbes and viruses. Due to their charge capaci-ty, they possess antibacterial properties. TiO2 photocatalysts and metallic and metal-oxide nanoparticles are among the most promising nanomaterials with antimicrobial properties. A significant research effort contin-ues to understand the mechanisms (examplified in Figure 7) and enhance the efficiency of nanomaterials as antimicrobial agents as highlighted among others by Hossein et al (2014).



Figure 7. Bacteria cell damage

Source: Hossein et al (2014)

Silver is historically known as a strong antimicrobial and has wide range of industrial applications in

healthcare and textiles. Currently silver nanoparticles account for more than 23% of all nano-products

(Zhang 2013). However, the extensive application of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) results in their inevitable re-

lease into the environment. Nevertheless, its long and short term toxicity is not fully known and recent inves-

tigations have been focused on the potential harmful effects of silver on the human body (Hossein et al

2014). To date, WHO and other water regulating authorities have not determined a maximum level of silver

to meet drinking water quality standards. Immobilized AgNP can be a good alternative to other disinfectants

because of its high surface area to volume ratio.

While being stable in surface water, ground water and brackish water, AgNP tend to cluster in salt water, re-

ducing efficacy. The antimicrobial activity of AgNP can be also impaired by the presence of a humic sub-

stance and high concentrations of divalent cations (eg Ca2+). Such insight is helpful in explaining how dis-

charged AgNP behave in natural aquatic systems as well as their environmental toxicological effects on nat-

urally occurring microorganisms (Zhang 2013).

In summary, nanomaterials with antimicrobial properties are great defence tools to prevent water related ep-

idemics, but they may also have toxic effects on ecosystems. Furthermore, the accumulation of NPs in peo-

ple can lead to cellular damage through the same mechanisms that damage bacterial cells and DNA.

4.3 Desalination

Worldwide desalination has been growing exponentially in the last few decades as part of the solution for

feeding populations or for industrial use where natural resources are limited. In 2012 over 18,000 plants pro-

duced > 80,000,000 m3/day of fresh water in 150 countries. In this area the numbers of applications in LA

continues to grow, very much led by industry applications, such as the mining industry in Chile, which is op-

erating in arid areas, or the petrochemical industry in Brazil (Waterworld online).

Current desalination techniques are typically energy intensive: energy consumption can account for up to

70% of the desalination costs. The global production of desalinated water uses approximately 75.2 TWh of

electricity per year, enough to power nearly 7 million homes (Casey 2014).

The demand for water is so great that the worldwide desalination market is expected to reach $87.8 billion by

2016, even though only about 1% of the world’s drinking water is currently produced by desalination. There

is a huge need for technologies that can reduce this cost.

Peru and Chile offer two examples of the type of desalination projects happening in LA. Both countries are

investing in desalination plants to support both economic and urban growth.



In Chile, the government has been committed to supporting the mining sector in the north of the country. In

line with this, most of the investments in Chilean desalination projects are in the Antofagasta region in the

north of the country. Antafogasta city will be the first municipality in LA fully relying on desalination for its wa-

ter supply, thus liberating other sources for the mining industry (Gabrielli 2012). Several other large projects

are under construction, much connected to the mining industry.

In Peru, the water supplied by desalination plants is planned for the industrial sector, households and agri-

cultural plantations. Seawater desalination has been considered a national objective and new desalination

plants will be built in the country. In Pucusana, for example, the government is sponsoring the construction of

an 80,000 m3/day seawater desalination plant.

The use of nanotechnology in developing sustainable desalination solutions involves the development of

smart and fouling resistant membrane materials. An example of how nanotechnology advances can radically

improve membrane based desalination is provided by graphene. A new class of highly permeable, highly se-

lective molecular sieve materials for separation processes, has been created through engineering nanome-

tre-sized pores in ultrathin and otherwise impermeable graphene sheets. The sheet acts as a filter permitting

the transport of molecules smaller than the pores while significantly hindering the transport of molecules

larger than the pores. The possibility of controlling the pore size allows for the production of very selective

membranes (Figure 6). The subnanometre to nanometre pore sizes obtained are in the right range for nano-

filtration, with applications including the removal of organic contaminants, water softening, etc. (O’Hern et al

2014).

Figure 8. Controlled pores in single layer graphene

Source: O’Hern et al (2014)

The permeability of such graphene filters, according to computer simulations, could be 50 times greater than

that of conventional membranes. However, producing such filters with controlled pore sizes on a commercial

scale will require further development.

4.4 Sensor development for pollutant monitoring

Within the category of sensing and detection, of particular interest is the development of enhanced sensors

to detect biological, and chemical contaminants, present at very low concentrations in water. Nanotechnolo-

gy has the potential to facilitate the development of continuous monitoring devices capable of delivering real-

time measurements at low cost and with improved specificity (Riu et al 2006; Vaseashta et al 2007). The

high surface to volume ratio of nanoparticles enables predominantly surface chemical and physical phenom-

ena that are exploited by new sensor devices. For example, sensitivity can increase due to increased con-

duction, detection limits can be lower, very small quantities of samples can be analysed, direct detection is

possible without using labels, and some reagents can be eliminated (Riu et al 2006, Long et al 2013).

The beneficial characteristics of nanomaterials, such as enhanced reactivity, surface area and sequestration

characteristics form the basis of development work relating to highly sensitive water sensors. Application ex-

amples include a gold nanocluster-based fluorescent sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of



cyanide in aqueous solution (Liu et al 2010). This involved the development of stabilized gold nanoclusters

consisting of several tens of atoms, making them smaller than 1 nanometre in size, with a high affinity to-

wards cyanide. The nanoclusters were the core of a fluorescence sensor which, compared with many current

optical chemosensors, is more simple in fabrication and operation. The fluorescent sensor could find wide

applications in selective detection of cyanide in water.

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which are nanocrystals of inorganic semiconductors with diameters of

2–8 nm, have been used to develop optical sensors based on fluorescence measurements. Goldman et al

(2004) used QDs functionalized with antibodies to perform multiplexed fluoroimmunoassays for simultane-

ously detecting four toxins. This type of sensor could be used for environmental purposes for simultaneously

identifying pathogens (like cholera toxin) in water (Riu et al 2006).

4.5 Summary and outlook

Since the turn of the century, the scientific community has generated evidence that the use of nanomaterials

in water treatment is a new and promising application. Nanotechnology-derived materials such as nanoad-

sorbents, catalytic material, nanostructured and reactive membranes, as well as bioactive nanoparticles

have been applied to water treatment. These materials are of interest due to their large surface area, effi-

ciency in removing contaminants even at low concentrations, enhanced affinity for specific contaminants ,

catalytic potential, and high reactivity (Tuutijärvi 2013).Table 7 below provides a list of applications demon-

strating the general potential of nanomaterials in water technologies.

However, to become a reliable water treatment technology, a few challenges need to be met. So far, the en-

vironmental impact and toxicity of nanomaterials are poorly understood; therefore, the key challenge may be

to gain regulatory and public acceptance for using nanomaterials in water purification. Other important issues

include integrating nanomaterials in existing water purification systems and guaranteeing the availability of

nanomaterials at scale, and at economically feasible prices. While the cost of different nanomaterial is de-

creasing, for example Brame et al (2011) reported that zero valent iron nanoparticles (ZVINP) and TiO2 can

be produced at $0.14/g and $0.18/g respectively, some remain high, e.g. carbon nanotubes can be in the

range of $ 300 /g (Nuñez 2015). However, more important than the cost of nanomaterials per se is the cost

normalized to the volume of water treated, a factor that currently is widely unknown.



Table 7. List of applications demonstrating the general potential of nanomaterials in water technologies

Application Current technologies Current Challenges Enabled by nanomaterials

Drinking water produc-tion

Desalination

Membrane filtration (re-verse osmosis)

• High energy consumption implies high operational costs • Membrane fouling leading to high en-ergy consumption and lower throughput because of increased need for mem-brane cleaning and backflushing

• Incorporation of nanoparticles can give the membrane material antifouling mechanisms • Lower energy consumption

Drinking water Disinfection

Chlorination Advanced oxidation

Efficiency Chemical consumption Generation of toxic by-products such as organic chlorides Resistant microbes, viruses

Catalytic breakdown No by-products Degradation of viruses and microbes through various pathways

Drinking water Pollutant removal

(heavy metals, arsenic pesticides etc.)

Precipitation through addition of chemicals Filtration

Efficiency towards low concentration, Generation of toxic by-products Resistant microbes, viruses

Catalytic breakdown, No harmful by-products Degradation of viruses and microbes

Wastewater treatment Chemical flocculation, biological degradation

Long residential time Inadequate removal of certain micropol-lutants No possibility for recovery

Engineered nanoparticles can show very high selectivity towards targeted pollutants Recovery /valorisation

Irrigation

Little control and man-agement, overuse, leak-ages

Controlled water delivery according to need, price of sensor networks

Monitoring for precision use of irriga-tion Wireless new affordable sensors Soil amendment

With regards to potabilisation (drinking water production), the practical application of nanoparticles can be limited by unknown side-effects caused by their release into the environment. A careful evaluation of the physical and chemical stability of immobilized particles in aqueous media (natural or effluents) will be neces-sary for its judicious use. Environmental and health risks and unknown factors related to the use of nano-materials in water treatment have also hampered water technology companies’ interest in actively incorporat-ing nanomaterials in their R&D and business lines.

In the context of treatment and remediation, nanotechnology has the potential to improve both water quality and quantity in the long run through the use of, for example, advanced membranes enabling water reuse or desalination. The use of nanofibres and composite nanostructured membranes can help degrade a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants in real field applications. However, most work is still taking place in research laboratories and there are only few commercial applications on the market. A better under-standing of the formation of nanocomposite membranes will certainly be a step towards improving their per-formance. The deposition pattern of nanoparticles within the membrane matrices, and changes in the struc-ture and properties of both nanomaterials and host matrices are among the priority concerns for field applica-tions for water/wastewater treatment.

In addition, nanotechnology could allow the development of monitoring devices that are low-cost and provide real-time measurements of specific analytes. They may also have lower energy consumption thus improving or extending performance, and reducing costs further, however, costs of such new technologies should be compared with exisiting ones over the whole product life-cycle (Amin et al 2014).

In water treatment and quality control, the main benefits of nanoparticles are their ability to trap and sense low concentrations of pollutants. This implies that such treatment systems would be compatible in applica-tions requiring very high end quality. These are drinking water systems and special industrial use, e.g. in the food and beverage industry and the semiconductor industry, which need very high quality water in their pro-cesses. To be successfully deployed in such applications, questions still related to nanosafety must be re-solved. To understand a particle’s toxicity, it is necessary to understand both the particle and its interactions with its environment. However, mechanisms underlying the numerous potential interactions between nano-



particles and living systems are yet not fully understood. This complexity is largely due the part icles’ ability to bind and interact with many forms of biological material and to change their surface characteristics depend-ing on the environment they are in (Hu and Apblett 2014).

According to current understanding the majority of nanomaterials in wastewater or in natural environments are retained within biosolids and sediments. Nonetheless, these biosolids and sediments can in turn serve as reservoirs for subsequent release to surface waterways during, e.g. a flood (Hu and Apblett 2014).

Since the water industry is required to produce drinking water of high quality, there is a clear need for the development of cost-effective and stable materials, and methods to address the challenges of providing fresh water in adequate amounts. Anynew treatment methods need to be stable, economical, and more ef-fective than existing techniques. This is particularly important to deliver considerable potable water savings, through reuse of wastewater, in addition to addressing the decline in drinking water quality.



5 Recommendations

This chapter deals with recommendations for deployment of nanotechnologies for water in Latin America. Most of the recommendations were gathered by means of individual or group interviews with stakeholders, mainly researchers, who attended NMP-DeLA’s workshops; or responses from community of interest mem-bers to the questionnaire that was made available on the project’s website. Consultation of other sources, such as FP7’s NMP project database was made in order to better inform the recommendations.

The recommendations presented are related to research, policy and funding, and industry involvement and investment in order to address identified problems, and to improve the industrial competitiveness of the wa-ter sector in LA, as an indirect result.

5.1 Research on NMP’s

NMP-DeLA community of interest members recommended:

Building up a network of experts on water technology and nanospecialists, by organising confer-ences or seminars focused on nanotechnologies applied to water. Latin American researchers could be linked to European networks, starting with Spain and Portugal, for example, and including experts from the USA because of the collaborations already taking place with this country.

Jointly addressing problems that are common to member states of the region. As an example, Mexi-co and Chile’s problems related to arsenic contamination. Nanoparticles and nanomaterials can e.g. be applied in specific membrane designs for contaminants like arsenic. There are advances in other adsorbent materials, typically incorporated in membranes for arsenic removal and production of po-table water.

In Chile, the recommended steps to develop NMP for water should be: knowing the state of the art, contacting other universities and Chilean centres, and financing applied investigations. The partners should include the mining companies and local authorities with contaminated water problems. Social organizations should also be engaged in order to raise people´s awareness of water contamination.

Applications of nanotechnology in water treatment should be developed following safety by design principles. End users should be involved from the beginning to make sure that solutions are useful to them.

It is worthwhile to bring African, Latin American and European experts together to achieve a critical

mass. The NMP DeLA community could organise a conference on water treatment by solar energy,

combining both energy and water in a nanotechnology framework, and bringing scientists together to

solve common problems. Engagement with the International Water Association (IWA) could be use-

ful in this regard, as the Association is doing work in Africa and bringing conferences to Africa.

There are opportunities for applying nanotechnology in remediation of mining water effluents, espe-

cially membranes. The main problem is that there are few nanotechnologies for water applications at

industrial scale, most are at lab-scale. These are still expensive and will take a long time to reach

market. Another issue is solving the footprint of post-treatment and regeneration of used nano-

materials. For example the use of acetone to remove pollutant from nanocatalysts and how this

wastewater is finally disposed of.

Opportunities for cooperation between Europe and LA in scaling-up lab R&D on membranes and catalysts for arsenic, microbes etc.

Specific recommendations for cooperation with European institutions regard the uptake of results of EU-funded projects through the FP7 NMP programme. To draw on those recommendations, which are listed in Annex 2, projects funded by that programme were identified and selected by reviewing their abstracts. This is not an exhaustive list as the applications of NMPs or nanotechnologies specifically for water, could have been the approach of projects submited to other programmes, such as environment for example. The coor-dinators of these projects were contacted and invited to subscribe to the NMP-DeLA community of interest, as well as being sent a questionnaire about the potential applications of their project results in the context of LA countries.



Continuing with recommendations and opportunities to foster research on nanotechnology for water applica-tions in LA (and taking into account the living conditions in developing countries) and by means of EU-LA cooperation, community of interest members see the following opportunities:

To scale up developments from lab scale or pilot scale to industrial scale in the long term. In general, nanotechnology for water and wastewater treatment is at the lab scale and it has not been deployed in real life? Its promising breakthroughs are foreseen in the coming years, so scaling up promising universi-ty developments for water purification to pilot or full scale in the long term is the aim. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind the environmental fate, stability and toxicity.

Point of use technologies in developing countries, to be installed, for example, in houses at point-of-

use (e.g. sinks, or drinking water). Another potential applicaiton is the e.g. use of palladium as pho-

tocatalyst to be used for the catalytic reduction of nitrates. This solution can be relevant for small

communities of ca 10 families in areas with nitrate polluted groundwater. A challenge for photocata-

lytic treatment is however always to ensure that sufficient light reaches the photocatalyst (consider-

ing that water also absorbs light. Thus such solutions are probably in the first hand feasible for small

scale treatment only. Point-of-use technologies will also be of interest to water desalination were

technological innovation could enable small scale desalination. Current applications operate on

economy of scale.

Interviewed community of interest members had the following comments regarding their own research and

opportunities for collaboration:

The use of nanotechnology to improve the efficiency of water process technologies through electro-hydrolisation, spray-dry nanoproduction and coating aiming to increase the coagulation efficiency in processes for the removal of organic material (flocculation), or to improve distillation and evaporation (thermal desalination);

Sea water desalination by using water mist that is composed of micron and sub-micron-size droplets and different distillation rates, scaling up available prototypes;

Cleaning up micro- and nano-particle pollutants which originate from weathered plastic debris on the Pacific coasts of LA countries;

The production of novel materials for extreme conditions in water processing and combating fouling and biofouling;

CIMAV in Mexico is applying the mineral Lepidocrocite nano-iron oxide to remove arsenic in ground water at point of use;

Centro Tecnológico de Manresa and Enterprise Europe Network (CTM) is participating in the Cata-lan Water Partnership (CWP) to develop solutions for global water challenges in cooperation with partners in other world regions and in the EU-funded projects NanoREM36 on nanoremediation, technology development and safety, nitrate, nitrogen and phosphate removal, and DEMOWARE37 on water potibilization.

USP in Brazil can produce silver and two other nanoparticles at pilot scale. They can produce 10 li-tres of magnetite in solution per day, and are looking for partners to collaborate in the further devel-opment of the process.

Overall, collaboration with Europe, besides within calls of programmes open to international collaboration, such as Horizon2020, can include the European Innovation Partnership Water (EIP Water), which is a top-down initiative managed by the European Commission, aiming to foster innovative solutions for European and global water problems38.

5.2 Policy and funding for NMP

According to an NMP-DeLA community of interest member, one main issue in implementing water purifica-

36 http://www.nanorem.eu/

37 http://demoware.eu/en

38 http://www.eip-water.eu/



tion in LA is to overcome difficulties in dealing with public markets (such as corruption, and delays in the ex-ecution of projects), as the water sector (technology buyers) is dominated by municipalities.

Specific recommendations from stakeholders involved in the OECD study on nanotechnology for water can be applied to LA as well. They recommended:

i. Governmental and intergovernmental bodies that support collaborative R&D to ensure the poten-tial of nanotechnology as a solution to global challenges, such as water, by allocating specific fund-ing. ii. Stakeholders – government, non-government international bodies and industry, to support and engage with work on addressing fiscal, economic and social issues at national and international lev-els for different types of source waters in conjunction with national and international initiatives on nanotechnology and water. iii. Countries to consider coming together in an international event on nanotechnology and water. This should bring together participants from the water industry, nanotechnology industries, including materials and sensors, science and public health communities, OECD governments and the OECD enhanced engagement countries to: a. discuss key issues, from needs to technological solutions; b. exchange good practice examples in the use of nanotechnology and other technologies for the

enhancement of water systems; c. and identify steps to be taken by national and international governmental bodies to optimise the

use of nanotechnology in the water sector39 (OECD 2011:42-3)

Regarding opportunities for collaboration between Europe and Latin America, there are already some activi-ties which could lead to engagement between the regions. These are described below.

According to a community of interest member, the Brazilian government has planned major investments in water infrastructure development. This offers opportunities for trying out new concepts that are difficult to im-plement in the European water sector including NMP, provided that good technical concepts can be devel-oped.

In Mexico, the Secretariat for Economic Development and Tourism of the Government of the State of Tabas-co is interested in exploring nanotechnology-based solutions for water pollution caused by erosion and flooding. This problem impacts the local economy, which depends on the oil industry and food production.

Even though it does not cover nanotechnology for water, the City Blueprint tool developed by the Water Cy-cle Institute (KWR) in the Netherlands offers a quick scan for cities to analyse and benchmark their water sit-uation and compare to other cities in order to identify solutions. One scan has been made for Belem in Bra-zil. The tool is included in the portfolio of the European Innovation Platform Water, and will be developed fur-ther in the Horizon2020 project BluesScities. This is an example of water related cooperation and connec-tions between Europe and LA.

5.3 Industry and Investment

Specific recommendations for this topic came from interviews with NMP-DeLA community of interest mem-bers as follows:

Desalination solutions could be developed to address both rural and urban locations. Developing affordable and sustainable sea water desalination solutions for rural households in remote coastal areas could be achieved through stations, with a capacity of approximately 1 cubic metre/day, powered by renewable energy sources, such as solar-thermal, geothermal or wind. However, to be successful, the financial overhead and maintenance costs should be minimized. Such desalination solutions clearly call for modern, nano-enhanced material solutions which need to be designed in terms of costs, mechanical strength, chemical and UV radiation resistance and environmental friendliness.

The development of solar-thermal driven cooling solutions for food preservation and ice production

39 These countries include Mexico, Chile and Brazil as well as the EU and EU member states.



in remote areas. The idea is to use solar energy to produce ice that can be used for cooling food. NMP applications should focus on environmentally friendly thermal insulation materials, as well as nanotechnology approaches for the creation of very large spatially confined surface areas for en-hanced water evaporation.

The production of minimal fouling systems in water processing by designing and optimising hybrid systems that reduce fouling and increase process efficiency and longevity, and through scaling up manufacturing of materials and processes.

Water treatment by photocatalysis that can be used for aqueous effluents with a low concentration of pollutants (such as pesticides, drugs, and others organics). Nanosafety issues need to be ad-dressed if the water is to be used for drinking, because of the risk from the nanoparticles.

Inexpensive, reliable and fast point-of-use sensors/lab-on-a-chip for measuring local water quality without the need for a laboratory. A good example is the Canary project (security, disaster relief, remote areas) in the USA.40

Improving waste water collection and consequent treatment. For example, in Brazil: 30% of waste water is collected, but only 30% of this is treated. There are ongoing discussions on improving this situation, and budgets have been made available. In Costa Rica, foreseen market niches for nano in water include detecting water contamination by use of nano-particles, and filtering water through nano-structured membranes.

In Chile, a foreseen market niche is the use of nanocomposite resins for the decontamination and reuse of dirty water. Water distribution companies, and companies whose activities produce con-taminated water, should be engaged in projects deploying nanotechnology for water purification. This includes mining companies.

According to a respondent, technologies which increase access to clean water represent a significant market opportunity. Such technologies should demonstrate high effectiveness, a relatively simple mode of operation, and sufficient lifetime without requiring replacement parts. The total lifetime cost is an important factor in en-couraging adoption. This respondent believes that the commercial value of nanotechnologies for environ-mental remediation – which includes other applications beyond pollutant removal , monitoring etc., is in the low tens of millions (USD). The share of nano-enabled products has been increasing during recent years, and this trend is likely to continue in the future.

The European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP) on Nanotechnologies (NANOfutures) has identi-fied different energy and water innovation research needs41. There are opportunities for cross fertilization be-tween sectors.

According to the NMP-DeLA community of interest members, several companies have the interest and ca-pacity to develop nanotechnology for water applications. These include:

Instrument manufacturing companies which apply nanosensors and lab-on-a-chip for measuring fluid dynamics in platform technologies for applications in food, water and health. Market uptake of such innovations is impeded by the fact that different regulations and standards apply to each sec-tor. Technology development need to comply accordingly meaning a lengthier development pro-cess.

Nanotecnia in El Salvador uses evaporation to cool goods, employing thermal solar energy and lo-cally available and ecologically non-hazardous materials for water absorption (e.g. ground volcanic

minerals, salts) and heat insulators (decomposable organics/bio-organics)42.

The incubator of the Francisco Gavidia University in El Salvador is establishing start-ups that could specialize in e.g. local production of commercial water desalination and solar cooling systems.

Two Dutch spin-offs of the Water Research Centre, WETSUS, in the Netherlands are active in nano for water. High Voltage Water BV43 is developing electrospray technology for desalination

40 See: https://www.ted.com/talks/sonaar_luthra_meet_the_water_canary , http://www2.epa.gov/homeland-security-research/models-tools-and-applications-homeland-security-research

41 www.nanofutures.eu

42 www.nanotecnia.net

43 http://www.highvoltagewater.com/

https://www.ted.com/talks/sonaar_luthra_meet_the_water_canary

http://www.nanofutures.eu/



processes and membrane production.

Metal Membranes44 manufactures nanoporous membranes for filtration.

Swansea University is working on nanotechnology for process control in separation, fouling and biofouling, and lab scale and pilot scale membrane separation processes for water and power cells. They apply nanoscale characterization techniques with specialist expertise in scanning probe mi-croscopy (SPM) technologies, as well as polymer fabrication techniques for modifying surfaces used in water and energy generation, including nanoelectrospinning and nanoparticle functionaliza-tion. They have established industrial collaboration with international companies and SMEs.

The KWR Water Cycle Research Institute in the Netherlands has developed nanomodified mem-branes for water purification (lab scale, early stage) by means of adsorption (e.g. ceramic, self-cleaning, catalytic, mixed matrix etc.). They have tested desalination membranes produced by HTO on real sea water with relatively low salt contents.

Another powerful example of industry-academia, as well as public-private partnership, to address issues re-lated to water in sanitation is the Water Supply and Sanitation Platform (WssTP45), which coordinates re-search, innovation and competitiveness in the water sector in Europe. WssTP consists of 145 members and a network of more than 700 individuals from industry, research, technology providers, policy makers and wa-ter users. A number of its members are active both in EU and LA counttries. This Platform also serves as an example for policy making, funding, research and industry involvement.

5.4 Ethical, Legal, Societal and Environmental Aspects

General issues regarding ELSA, as well as environmental aspects of deploying nanotechnologies, are pre-sented here. These were informed by interviews with experts and consultation with NMP-DeLA community of interest members. The experts highlight the problems faced by LA populations as well as recommending means for addressing them. The problems are related to the lack of corporate social responsibility for natural contamination and to safety by design nanotechnology solutions. There are many opportunities for coopera-tion, as well as issues to be addressed, regarding societal challenges and water. The following two testimo-nies from interviewees illustrate this:

Environmental pollution from human activities is a global problem. One of the most challenging areas is providing safe drinking water especially for smaller towns and rural areas. Photocatalytic nanomaterials are widely used for environmental, cleaning, and cosmetics, and could be used for removal a of pollutants in wa-ter and to minimize the use of chemicals (for water purification), resulting in benefits for wider public health and thus on the quality of life.

A bottleneck hampering the introduction of nanofiltration and photocatalysis with catalytic nanoparticles is currently the price, especially in regions where water consumption is not charged or if charged, bills are not paid. In addition, polluting companies would rather pay fines than invest in water purification plants (Alejan-dra Martín Dominguez, from UNAM/Mexico).

Interviewed NMP-DeLA community of interest members recommend:

The development of a roadmap on nano for water deployment in LA that emphasises, besides the potential users of nanotechnology, the institutional, legal and operational context: who are the actors, what are the current regulations, how easy or difficult is it to introduce nanosensors/nanotechnology in the production and distribution chain and how can nanotechnology be applied in a sensible way;

To demand that nanotechnology solutions for water in LA be clearly articulated, comparing them with other technological or non-technological solutions and evaluating them for simplicity, mainte-nance difficulties and costs. LA countries should cooperate to discuss solutions and their technical and economic aspects.

44 http://www.metalmembranes.com/

45 http://wsstp.eu/



Existing activities in European and Latin American institutions can be used to address some of the major en-vironmental problems regarding water quality in LA, if they are expanded to cover all the countries facing similar problems. For example, the EU-funded Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) project NANOREMOVAS46 aims to develop solutions for removing arsenic from groundwater in Argentina. This pro-jects is especially important because it aims to establish a pilot plant for the remote treatment of arsenic pol-luted waters, by applying state-of-the-art advanced multifunctional nanostructured materials. The project in-cludes cooperation between industrial and academic partners from Europe and Argentina; training of per-sonnel, outreach activities, and entrepreneurship support for young innovative companies in the water and livestock sectors. Collaboration between experts involved in this project and Mexican and Chilean experts, those discussed here in terms of arsenic contamination and expertise in nanotechnologies (e.g. in CEDENNA and University of Concepción in Chile and CIMAV in Mexico), would be very useful to tackle is-sues related to education and business creation in this field.

A set of solutions proposed by Gouvea (2015) for the Amazon region could be deployed for the major river-basins in LA, such as implementation of a water quality monitoring and alert systems - “water customs” sen-sors, which are based on nanotechnological solutions.

46 http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/194273_en.html

http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/194273_en.html



6 Conclusions

In general, socio-economic factors such as poverty, poor living conditions and lack of access to clean water, pose serious regional obstacles in LA. Increased scarcity of (clean) water, and extreme weather events, in-duced by climate change as well as industrial pollution, will call for improved and affordable technological so-lutions. The opportunities for nanotechnologies for water in these settings could have a major positive contri-bution. Nanotechnologies applied to water potabilisation, (industrial) waste water treatment and monitoring, will need to be developed from lab-scale demonstrations to regionally relevant applications, and progress to market is expected towards 2025. The main advantages of nanotechnology-derived solutions include, more effective and cost-efficient solutions with less unwanted formation of hazardous by-products and waste. Against these starting points and the roadmapping of opportunities described in this report, we present the main conclusions and recommendations for promoting and advancing the short- and long-term development and uptake of nanotechnologies for water in LA by 2025. By short-term we mean a time horizon up to 5 years and long-term of 10 years.

Strategic commitment

A prerequisite to advancing the deployment of nanotechnologies in particular, and NMPs in general, for the improvement of water quality, is the level of political and societal commitment and support. This should hap-pen at national, regional and international levels. At the national level this should involve policymakers, re-search and innovation support organizations, water supply utilities companies, as well as the water intensive industry, where regionally present. Water utilies play a special role, mainly because these are in the main publicly owned and have an important impact in the definition of criteria for qualification of suppliers. A strong government buy-in of potential benefits is a must in order to discuss further implementation by policymaking agencies at all levels.

At the international level, existing collaborations at the technical research level and country-policy level should be enhanced. European wide organizations representing public-private partnerships as well as re-search and innovation, such as the European WssTp, Eureka Acqueau and EIP Water, could be a means of influencing those above mentioned Latin American stakeholders in their commitment to improving quality of water both for population, in rural and urban areas, and for industrial use. In the short-term, concerning bi-regional cooperation between EU and CELAC, the inclusion of nanotechnologies, in general and for water in particular, among the topics of the current Joint Research and Innovation (JIRI) policy dialogue would impact and improve policymaking and funding in the area. The Europe Aid-funded project European and Latin American Technology based Business Network (ELAN) is an example of a bi-regional initiative, which al-ready integrates nanotechnologies and new materials among its focus areas in order to promote the estab-lishment of networks of European technology based businesses (technologies, organizations and firms) in Latin America.

In the long-term, a suggestion is that regional LA initiatives be constructed by policymakers to support the development of solutions to common problems faced by the different countries. These initiatives should lead to the common funding of research projects, capacity building and education. These initiatives can be devel-oped together with European policymakers following the implementation of the JIRI roadmap.

Strategic commitment should be demonstrated as well, by integrating all relevant stakeholders in the policy dialogue regarding the implementation of solutions for improvement of water quality in the region. The stake-holder grouping could follow, for example, the four dimensions of the green helix initiative proposed by Gou-vea (2015), i.e. government, universities and research centres, private sector and NGOs.

Establishment of knowledge networks

The establishment of knowledge networks in the field of nanotechnologies for water, by means of promot-ing activities to bring stakeholders together to identify problems, solutions and infrastructural capabilities (both installed and needed) is of outmost importance, in order to provide input for both policymaking and to define R&D, capacity building and training priorities. The foci of the activities should be first to solve those problems that mainly affect the underpriviledged populations of LA, and the most pressing problems they



face, as the focus of this roadmap proposes. As stated in some examples, networking with international or-ganizations, which are already in place but not in a coordinated way, would also contribute, since this could provide funds, knowledge exchange, better opportunities for funding and ultimately support the scale-up of solutions. Collaboration should be extended to global initiatives and funding opportunities.

Short-term actions should be devoted to design regional actions by bringing stakeholders together for the purpose of developing regional research and deployment plans, as recommended by interviewees. Opportu-nities and experiences of international collaboration with Europe should be analysed and presented through these actitivies, to foster improved research infrastructure and developing concepts for projects that could be funded in the long-term by regional sources, and in the short-term through joint programming and funding opportunities presented by, for example, the Network of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States on Joint Innovation and Research Activities (ERANet-LAC). A regional committee will have a more potent impact on defining wider research agendas and policy making, compared with individual research centres working in isolation.

Connections with European institutions should be fostered, to build on the results of projects selected from the FP7-NMP programme (listed in Annex 2), and considering the database of projects, institutions and indi-viduals in the NMP-DeLA community of interest (www.nmp-dela.eu). This could avoid duplication of efforts from LA institutions and promote an environment for the application of knowledge and solutions developed in those projects.

Long term plans include promoting the deployment of nanotechnologies for water by working closely with both the water industry and other stakeholders to secure solutions that satisfy local needs with respect to cost, performance and physical environment. Emphasis needs to be placed on the commercialization of so-lutions, such as support to applied research, to spin offs and SMEs, to ensure that results do not remain locked within universities and research institutions.

Fair operational environment

As recommended in relation to the deployment of nanotechnologies for health and energy47, strategic plan-ning needs to address ethical, environmental and safety related issues aspects, in order that nanotechnolo-gies for water truly contribute to improving societal conditions within LA. Nanotechnology research and busi-ness communities in should follow mutually agreed nanosafety principles, and participate in public-private and industry-academia initiatives for nanosafety. Healthy market competition should implement the means for making solutions available to all sections of society and avoid, e.g. ethical conflicts regarding patenting..

The ultimate conclusion of this roadmap on nanotechnologies for water in LA indicates that industrial scale solutions might be realized in the mid term (5-10 years) that can address major problems affecting the quality of water served to communities in urban and rural settings, including those that are isolated. This is more likely to happen if there is political drive and resources made available to support the uptake and adaptation of results from more advanced settings, such as in Europe. In the end, political and industry commitment is what is needed the most, because researchers are already looking at possibilities for deployment that may enable improvement in the quality of life of populations across the region through improving the quality of water available.

In order to summarize the recommendations and conclusions of this roadmap we present some milestones, which stimulate in the short, medium and longer term research, development and innovation in Nanotech-nologiy based solutions for water in Latin America. The presented milestones are no prediction of the future, but a compilation of recommendations, which resulted from our 2-year multi-stakeholder research process where we addressed the question of how nanotechnology-based solutions to societal challenges in the area of water should be produced in the future. Long term developments shall eventually flow into the achieve-ment of the Sustainable Development Goals related to water, such as Goal 6.3 “improve water quality by re-ducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally and 6.a “expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water and

47 See both roadmaps for deployment of nanotechnologies for health and energy in LA at www.nmp-dela.eu.




sanitation related activities and programmes”, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies We focus mostly on milestones at short and medi-um-term, reaching up to 2025, as this has been the timeframe for the roadmap. The long-term milestones are assumed to be envisioned consequences of the implementation of previous activities.”

As key actors for the implementation of the milestones we would see policy makers, researchers, water technology and service industry, public utilitites, regulatory bodies, the water intensive industry, such as min-ing and agro-food, non-government organizations, regional, and international organizations. Of utmost im-portance for the implementation process is the full integration of all stakeholders in deciding priorities in a re-search agenda, in the transfer of research results into applications and standards and in the evaluation of the progress achieved based on the goals of the regional strategy, as recommended by Savolainen et al (2013).

For the monitoring of progress and impact of defined actions and strategy, we give extensive options of out-come and impact indicators in the general NMP DeLA Roadmap (download from www.nmp-dela.eu). The suggested indicators may be used as a basis for the developing of Nanowater specific key indicators for im-pact evaluation.

Table 8. Timeline for implementation of recommendations of nanowater roadmap

Topic Short term (by 2020) Medium term (2020-2025) Long term (2025-2030)

Research

ETP-WWstp is considering

opening up to third countries,

and makes its first bilateral

agreements

Start of activities for improving

the research infrastructure for

conducting applied research in

nanotechnology addressing

water problems

Creating a network and a sys-

tem for common utilization of

laboratory equipment the cre-

ation of a Latin America – Eu-

ropean community for nano-

technology research

Establishment of a Latin Ameri-

can Association for Nanotech-

nology for environmental solu-

tions

Establishment of first private

public partnership between LA

research organisations and in-

novative indutry

High TRL support

Detailed mapping of needs to

improve the water situation in

LA countries, as base for

matching research to societal

and industrial needs

Benchmarking of national initia-

tive on developing solutions for

improved availability of water

and water availability nanowater

in public wate management.

Funding

National, regional and bilateral

funding (EU-LAC).

Use Bill and Melissa Gates fon-

dation and World Bank funds to

finance.

Use World Bank funds to finance.

Infrastructure

Intensified and systemic col-

laborative use of research in-

freastructure involving Euro-

pean and LA research organi-

sations

Construction of Pilot scale Appli-

cations with verified long term

viability in new environemnts

(e.g. desalination)

Affordable commercial solu-

tions available on small scale.

Establishment of large demonstra-

tion plants in the water intensive in-

dustry and/or public water utilities

Technology Transfer The European Technology Good practices of technology Established public-private partner-




Platform (ETP) WSStp creates

an action group for actions

and collaboration in LA coun-

tries.

The European Innovation

Partnership (EIP) for Water

opens up to LA countries

transfer are transferred from

more mature water technology

solutions in LA to the nano-water

sector.

ships for deployment and develop-

ment of solutions (potabilisation, wa-

ter recycling and reuse, monitoring

networks, etc.).

Policy making

Inclusion of nanotechnologies

for water in the working groups

for bioregional EU-CELAC

JIRI policy dialogue for nano-

technology.

Implementation of recommenda-

tions on water availability and

safety issues by national gov-

ernments.

Developed strategy for leadership in

securing safe drinking water taking

care of NTDs.

Capacity building

Carrier development in collab-

oration with EU organisations

Establishment of a regional

WG to discuss implementation

of a curriculum for education

on nanotechnologies both for

vocational and university de-

grees.

Establishment of regional guide-

lines, and joint educational initia-

tives, on nanotechnologies.

Joint issuing of degrees on nano-

technology in the LA region.

RRI

LCA for low costs nanobased

solutions for water which are

expected to become first

available for deprived part of

the population

Creation of a network of corre-

spondents in the field of ethical

aspects of Nanowater applica-

tions in LA.

An overriding system for ensuring

occupational health of workers in

companies manufacturing nano-

technological solutions for water is

up and running in LA countries

Cooperation

Inclusion of nanotechnology

as a priority topic in the EU-LA

Joint Initiative for Research

and Innovation (JIRI).

LA institutes engage with devel-

oping solutions for water engage

in regional (IDB, WHO, FAO

Brazil-Argentina Nanotechnolo-

gy Institute) and international

(e.g. WHO, WB, Wsstp) actors.

established cooperation between the

water intensive industry and re-

search organisations for deployment

of nano based solutions for water

reccling and pollutant removal

Nanowater academic, re-

search and industrial organiza-

tions engaged in the ELAN

(EU-LAC network of technolo-

gy based business).



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Annexes

Annex 1: List of Interviewees for Nanowater Roadmap

Dr Juha Lindfors Kemira, Finland http://www.kemira.com

Dr Mehrdad Hesampour http://www.kemira.com

Dr Marcus Busch, Dow Chemicals, www.dow.com

Prof Dr Dora Altbir, Director of CEDENNA, http://cedenna.cl/

Dr Rainer Christoph, Nanotecnia, UFG, UJMD, San Salvador, El Salvador, www.nanotecnia.net

Dr Susan Figueroa-Gerstenmaier, University Guanajuato, Mexico

Prof Dr Nidal Hilal, Director of the Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research (CWATER), Swansea University, UK http://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/academic/engineering/hilalnidal/

Dr Luewton Lemos, Centre of Expertise Water Technology CEW www.cew-leeuwarden.nl, 25-08-2014

Mr Santiago Nuñez, Director of Technological Development at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tel-ecommunication of Costa Rica

Dr Laure Peruchon, Brochier Technologies, France, www.brochiertechnologies.com

Prof Dr Bernabé Rivas, Vice President for research and development, Universidad de Concepción, Chile, http://www.udec.cl/

Dr María Angélica Rubio, Researcher at CEDENNA, http://cedenna.cl/

Dr Haico Te Kulve, University of Twente, Netherlands, www.utwente.nl

Prof Dr Annemarie van Wezel, KWR Water Cycle Institute, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands, http://www.kwrwater.nl/Participants in the NMP-DeLA workshops covering Nano for Water (Monterrey, Mexi-co, November 2014 and Curitiba, Brazil, May 2015:

Dr Maria Teresa Alarcón Herrera (CIMAV, Mexico)

Prof Dr Damiá Barcelo, Vice Director CSIC Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, (IDAEA), Barcelona, Spain, http://www.idaea.csic.es/

Prof Dr Jorge Gardea Torresdey, University of Texas at El Paso, USA, http://www.ssslogic.com/gardea/

Prof. Dr. Alejandra Martín Domínguez, Subcoordinación de Potabilización, Coordinación de Calidad del Agua, Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua, Jiutepec, Mor. México, https://www.imta.gob.mx/

Mr Carlos Fernando Mayo Gonzalez, Subsecretary of support to micro, small and medium enterprises, Sec-retariat for Economic Development and Tourism, State of Tabasco, http://sdet.tabasco.gob.mx/

Dr Miquel Rovira, CTM, Barcelona, Spain

Dr David Smith, WE&B, Mexico, Spain

Ms Lesley Tobin, Nanosafety Cluster, www.nanosafetycluster.eu

Dr Andrea de Vizcaya Ruiz, CINVESTAV, Mexico

MEI Leonardo Souza, Nodus Technology Transfer Office, Mexico, www.nodus.org.mx

Jan Hofman, Water Innovation and Research Centre University of Bath, United Kingdom

Dr. Daniel Martire - Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

http://www.kemira.com/

http://www.kemira.com/

http://www.dow.com/



Dr. Koiti Araki, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

Dr. Juan Martin Rodríguez, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Perú.

Dr. Bernabé Rivas Quiroz, Universidad de Concepción, Chile.

Dr. Eduardo Miró - Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina

Dr. Jorge Rubio, MsC Ramiro Gonçalves Etchepare, Msc. André Camargo, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Dr. Edgar González, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia.

Dra. Ma. Teresa Alarcón Herrera, Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, México

Participants in the NMP-DeLA workshop onNano for Industry, December 2014, Santiago de Chile and partic-ipants discussing general issues in other events:

Dr Marcela Anguro, CORFO, Chile

Prof Dr Dora Altbir, director CEDENNA, Chile

Dr Françoise Roure, French Government Ministry Economy and Finance / OECD WPN

Dr Patricio Jarpa, Nanotec SA, Chile

Dr Josep Lluis Checa, CEN LEITAT, Centre of Excellence in Nanofibers, Chile.

Dr Felipe Pacheco, Adrox, Chile

Dr Santiago Botasini, UdelaR, Uruguay

Dr. Edilson Silveira, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Programs, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)

Dra. Graciela Inez Bolzon de Muniz, Nanotechnology Central Laboratory (LCNano), UFPR

Dra. Noela Invernizzi. Latin American Network Nanotechnology and Society (RELANS), Public Policy Grad-uate Program, UFPR

Dr. Guillermo Foladori, ReLANS, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico.

Mg. Ilse Marschalek - Center for Social Innovation, Austria

Dr. Alfredo de Souza Mendes. Coordination for Micro and Nano Technologies. Ministry of Science, Technol-ogy and Innovation, Brazil.

Dr Anna Tempesta, Coordination for Micro and Nanotechnologies, MCTI, Brazil

Ivana Resnichenko (MIEM, Uruguay)

Nico Schiettekatte, Innovation Council, Dutch consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Annex 2. Potential for transferability of knowledge created in FP7 NMP projects focusing on water to LA

Project Acronym Status Application areas Potential for transferability to LAC

Metrology research for the de-velopment and validation of de-sign rules for engineering of nanostructured and nano-enabled materials and devices

SETNANOMETRO Ongoing Remediation, addressing also

energy and health

In the long run, this project may contribute to better devices for photocata-lytic degradation of organic pollutants (e.g. pesticides) and disinfection of water. Although the research is not focussed on water applications per se, bridging to LA research would support LA knowledge of the remediating properties and abilities of nanophotocatalysts.

Nanotechnology-based sensors for environmental monitoring

NAPES Ongoing Environmental monitoring (bet-ter applicable to remediation in

the first hand)

Several LAC universities are working with nanomaterial based sensor technologies or nanomaterials for sensors. This research can bridge to the research carried out in LAC

Nanotechnology-based sensors for environmental monitoring AQUAVIR Ongoing

Monitoring, Generally appli-cable but more addresses

foremost potabilisation

This research is applicable for assuring microbial safety of drinking water, a highly important aspect especially in rural or poorer areas in LA

Photocatalytic materials for de-pollution

LIMPID Ongoing Remediation and potabilisation

The development of more efficient and nanosafe composite materials for depollution of water and applications thereof are readily applicable in LA countries e.g. for surface water remediation and potabilisation. Foremost organic pollutants (oil pesticide) and microbes can be degraded.

Photocatalytic materials for de-pollution

4G-PHOTOCAT Ongoing Remediation, but potabilisation

not excluded

The research aimed at reactor development for remediation of water (or-ganic pollutants). Sun light driven device are aimed for developing coun-tries and as a decentralised solutions and especially suitable in remote ar-eas without steady electricity supply.

Nanotechnology solutions for in-situ soil and groundwater reme-diation

NANOREM Ongoing Remediation

Groundwater remediation which can be utilised eg. in areas with arsenic contamination, a significant problem in LA countries.

Active nanomembranes/-filters/-adsorbents for efficient water treatment with stable or regen-erable low-fouling surfaces LBLBRANE Finished Remediation

Although membrane material research as such has not been a very com-mon nanotechnology research area in La countries, its application into fil-tration devices for industrial waste water (heavy metal removal) and desali-nation for potabilisation have markets in LA as well. efficient filters support wider application of water recycling and reuse, which is needed in water scarce areas.

D2.7 Roadmap and Recommendations for Deployment


Active nanomembranes/-filters/-adsorbents for efficient water treatment with stable or regen-erable low-fouling surfaces

CERAMPOL Ongoing Remediation

Ceramic membranes are firstly applied in industrial processes and could be applied for removal of metals from effluent (e.g. mining industry in LA). LA sites can act as demonstration sites for the developed technology, and thus participate in further deployment and commercialisation of technolo-gies.


CERAWATER Finished Potabilisation (remediation not

excluded)

Ceramic membranes are foremost applied in industrial processes and could be applied for removal of metals from effluent (e.g. mining industry in LA). LA industry and RTDs can participate in demonstration of the devel-oped technology as a continuation of this project.

Novel materials for replacement of critical materials (platinum group metals and rare earths)

FREECATS Finished Remediation (also applicable

to energy)

This project makes a bridge to the nanomaterial research in LAC research institutes and potential to develop together lower cost catalysts for water remediation.


NANOPUR Finished Potabilisation (also applicable

to remediation)

Joint projects for application of the developed materials in LA environments (drinking water disinfection etc.).


NANOSELECT Ongoing Remediation and potabilisation

Joint projects for application of the developed materials in LA environments (drinking water disinfection metal and pesticide removal etc.).

Novel membranes for water technologies BIONEXGEN Finished Remediation

The developed MBR should be demonstrated as stand alone decentralised technologies in LA areas (settlements ) currently missing waste water treatment.

Source: Based on list of database of NMP projects (acquired directly with EU Commission)