As businesses, specifically technology developers and industrial suppliers, strive to meet growing demand for higher quality drinking water, the use of engineered nanomaterials in commercial point-of-use (POU) in-home water purification devices are becoming an increasingly important option. Anecdotally, some businesses appear wary of developing and marketing nanomaterial-enabled devices because of concerns that they will face onerous regulation and consumer pushback. However, little of substance is known about business perceptions of and attitudes toward the use of engineered nanomaterials in POU water purification devices, or how these compare with consumer perceptions. To address this knowledge-gap, we administered a 14-question survey among 65 participants from US-based industrial companies focused on drinking water purification. Our results indicate that the dominant concerns for businesses are costs and public perceptions associated with nanomaterial-enabled POU devices for drinking water purification. Cost-specific barriers include competition from more conventional technologies, and tensions between operational versus capital costs. 57% of respondents were concerned or very concerned that public perceptions will influence the long-term viability of nanomaterial-enabled POU devices for drinking water purification. 49% of respondents stated that government regulation of nanomaterials would be the preferred approach to ensure public safety, followed by the certification of POU devices (28%). When asked about specific nanomaterials and their potential use in POU devices for drinking water purification, respondents ranked carbon nanotubes as the nanomaterial with highest concern for environmental health and safety, followed by silver, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and copper. Respondents ranked nanoclays as the nanomaterial with highest likelihood for public acceptance, followed by silica, cerium oxide, titanium dioxide, and aluminum oxide.

随着企业，特别是技术开发商和工业供应商努力满足对更高质量饮用水日益增长的需求，在商业使用点 (POU) 家用净水设备中使用工程纳米材料正成为越来越重要的选择。有趣的是，一些企业似乎对开发和营销支持纳米材料的设备持谨慎态度，因为他们担心它们将面临繁重的监管和消费者的抵制。然而，关于商业对在 POU 水净化装置中使用工程纳米材料的看法和态度，或者这些与消费者看法的比较，我们知之甚少。为了解决这一知识差距，我们对来自美国的专注于饮用水净化的工业公司的 65 名参与者进行了一项包含 14 个问题的调查。我们的研究结果表明，企业的主要关注点是与用于饮用水净化的纳米材料 POU 设备相关的成本和公众认知。成本特定的障碍包括来自更传统技术的竞争，以及运营成本与资本成本之间的紧张关系。57% 的受访者担心或非常担心公众的看法会影响纳米材料 POU 装置用于饮用水净化的长期可行性。49% 的受访者表示，政府对纳米材料的监管将是确保公共安全的首选方法，其次是 POU 设备的认证（28%）。当被问及特定的纳米材料及其在 POU 装置中用于饮用水净化的潜在用途时，受访者将碳纳米管列为最关注环境健康和安全的纳米材料，其次是银、二氧化钛、氧化锌和铜。受访者将纳米粘土列为最有可能被公众接受的纳米材料，其次是二氧化硅、氧化铈、二氧化钛和氧化铝。