Nano water research in Brazil

Research in nanotechnology applied to water in Brazil¹

One of the world’s biggest risks is the shortage of potable water for millions of people. Access to water is a socioeconomic problem because, even in areas where the resource is abundant, important poor sectors of the population have no access, or it is restricted; besides, in many cases water scarcity is related to overuse or private control of reserves by the agricultural or industrial sector. Access to water is also an administrative political problem, given the waste and leakages in the distribution and service facilities. Nevertheless, access to water is also a technical problem, as over-exploitation, as well as storage, purification and distribution systems depend on technical procedures that can be increasingly improved. This article reviews the research in nanotechnology applied to water in Brazil.

Guillermo Foladori

Sandra Maria Batista Silveira

Noela Invernizzi

Eduardo Robles Belmont

Research in nano-water in Brazil

Many universities and public and private research centers research on nanotechnologies in Brazil, and some do it on nano-water. The first plan of development of nanoscience and nanotechnology in Brazil (Multi-Year Plan 2004-2007) includes the program Desenvolvimento da Nanociencia e da Nanotecnologia (Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology), which highlights the potential of nanotechnologies for environmental remediation (GT, 2003). Later, in the National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2012-2015 the environmental issue is proposed as a purpose; and the development of sensors and systems for environmental monitoring and the treatment of effluents and waste are defined as priority areas (MCTI, 2012). In the following we summarize the main information available regarding research on nano-water.

• Scientific Publications

The report of the research project NMP-DeLA funded by the European Union in its 7th Framework Programme (VVAA, 2013) identified between 2000 and 2013 360 scientific articles that were registered in the Web of Science and related to nanotechnology and water, with at least one author with residence in Brazil. Four universities, all from the State of Sao Paulo, were seat for 58% of the articles, which is not surprising, being the State with the biggest and best universities in the country. Only a university in the northeast region (Federal University of Ceará) was a significant seat for publications on nano-water, with 10 scientific articles in the period, although they represent only 2.8% of the total 360 about nano-water (VVAA, 2013).

• Research projects on nano-water

The federal agency CNPq²,which is the most important source of funding for scientific research in Brazil, launched seven calls for research projects specifically on nanotechnology between 2006 and 2012, from which approximately 225 projects were funded. 11 of them (5% of the total) were on nano-water. Table 1 shows the different calls for projects, the total of projects funded and the ones related to nano-water, as well as the titles of the latter^3.

From the title and abstracts of the projects we identified the potentially main application or function, distinguishing those researches directed to purifying water, desalination, remediation or monitoring.

Table 1. CNPq calls for research projects on nanotechnology and data for nano-water 2006-2012

Source: CNPq Results of Calls for Research and Curricula of researchers (lattes.cnpq.br); taken from (VVAA, 2013) and direct information from MCTI (Annex 2).

Note: Only calls for research specific to nanotechnology were considered. Only those projects whose title or description in the abstract related to nanotechnology applications in water were considered (Projects with multiple applications without explicit reference to nano-water were not included, for example: development of sensors with multiple applications, which could eventually be used in monitoring water pollution).

The Table shows that most projects (9 out of 11) relate to remediation of bodies or courses of water. It should be noted that other funded researches on nanomaterials, sensors, membranes, etcetera, of multiple uses, can be applied to water decontamination and production of potable water and not be registered in table 1.

• CNPq research groups in nano-water

The NMP-DeLA project funded by the European Union conducted a search in the database of the CNPq about research groups on nanotechnology applications to water; the data were updated in May 2016 by the authors of this article. The following search terms were used: water + nano; nano + adsorption; nano + membranes; nano + photocatalysis; nano + bactericide; nano sensors + water; nano + desalination (Annex 1)⁴.

17 research groups active in the following areas were identified: desalination, water purification, environmental remediation and sensors/monitoring. Although some technologies can be used for more than one purpose (for example, membranes for environmental remediation or water purification), according to information released by the groups themselves, 12 of them prioritize some of these research areas, and five groups declare to be working in more than one area. If we take the different areas, which means that some groups participate more than once, as shown in Figure 1, widely prevalent in Brazil are the research groups engaged in environmental remediation (14 groups), especially for research on recovery of effluents contaminated by heavy metals and organic compounds. Three groups run research on water desalination, five on sensors and monitoring of water quality, and one on water purification.

Figure 1. Action areas of research groups in nano-water.  Source: own elaboration based on Annex 1.

In terms of its location in the country, 10 groups are located in the southeastern region of the country, which historically concentrates S&T activities; five are in the northeast region, one in the southern region, and one in the central-west region (Figure 2). No groups were identified in the northern region. It is interesting to note that from the three groups researching on water desalination, two are located in the Northeast which is a region endemically affected by droughts, but that has brackish groundwater as well as a long ocean coastline. Research on remediation of contaminated water, although mostly represented in the Southeast by eight research groups, is developed in several regions of the country.

Figure 2. Research Groups of CNPq by geographic region. Source: own elaboration based on Annex 1.

Finally, research on nano-water is developed in public research institutions. Only one research group is located at a private university, while 14 groups are based in state or federal public universities, and two in public research centers.

Conclusions

In recent years nanotechnologies have drawn attention for their potential application to different economic sectors, including water remediation, purification and desalination.

Research on nanotechnology and water in Brazil represents a marginal percentage in relation to studies performed in nanotechnology in the country. Research on nano-water is developed, except one case, in public institutions, and most are aimed at environmental remediation. Considering the large number of researchers in nanotechnology in Brazil, as well as the available infrastructure (Invernizzi, 2010), it is possible to think of public policies specifically aimed at expanding research on nano-water to purification and desalination. It should be noted, however, that there is no clear policy in the country in terms of risks to health and/or the environment of the nanoparticles used, which is essential for research in nano-water to be carried out in a sustainable manner. More detailed studies about ongoing researches may shed light on the extent to which they incorporate risk analysis in their research, something that was not detected in the abstracts of the research projects.

References

GT. (2003). Desenvolvimento da nanociência e da nanotecnologia. Proposta do Grupo de Trabalho criado pela Portaria MCT n^o 252 como subsídio ao Programa de Desenvolvimento da Nanociência e da Nanotecnologia do PPA 2004-2007. GT Nanotecnologia (Grupo de Trabalho em nanociência e nanotecnologia). Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia. Brasil. Retrieved from http://www.mct.gov.br/upd_blob/0002/2361.pdf

Invernizzi, N. (2010). Science Policy and Social Inclusion: Advances and Limits of Brazilian Nanotechnology Policy. In Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society (Vol. Vol II: The Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development, pp. 291–307). New York: Springer.

MCTI. (2012). Estratégia Nacional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação 2012 – 2015. Balanço das Atividades Estruturantes. 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2016, from http://www.mct.gov.br/upd_blob/0218/218981.pdf

VVAA. (2013). Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies deploymen in Latin American countries (No. Grant agreement No: 608740). 7th Framework Programme. European Union. Retrieved from http://www.nmpdela.eu/index.php/news/51-nmp-dela-deliverables

ANNEX 1

CNPq Research Groups in nano-water

Source: (VVAA, 2013 updated by 12/2015)

ANNEX 2

Research projects on nano water funded by the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation) 2004-2012

Source: Own elaboration from MCTI-unpublished document-

Notes

¹Translated from Spanish by Magdalena Silva

²Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. National Council of Technological and Scientific Development.

³Calls and titles of projects were translated to English.

⁴In all cases the term nanotechnology was also extensively used due to a defect in the database. The terms were searched in Portuguese.

⁵Call to support projects presented by young researchers to finance research and development activities in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Source: www.cnpq.br/web/guest/chamadas-publicas/Jsess

⁶The researcher’s curriculum lists the value of 76 000 real.

⁷Call for public selection of proposals to support the formation of cooperative research and development networks in nanosciences and nanotechnology.

⁸Support for the creation of cooperative research and development networks in nanosciences and nanotechnology and nano-instrumentation.

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Guillermo Foladori Ph.D.

Academic Unit on Development Studies. Autonomous University of Zacatecas. E-mail: gfoladori@gmail.com

Sandra Maria Batista Silveira Ph.D.

Department of Social Work of the Federal University of Pernambuco

Noela Invernizzi Ph.D.

Post-graduate program in Public Policy. Federal University of Parana, Brazil.

Eduardo Robles Belmont Ph.D

Network Laboratory. Research Institute of Applied Mathematics and Systems. National Autonomous University of Mexico