This study investigated the hydrothermal synthesis of carbonaceous nanowire membrane (CNM) and its separation performances in terms of adsorbing heavy metals and transmembrane water permeation in water treatment. The hydrothermal dehydration and carbonization of mono-saccharide (glucose; 180 degrees C, 48 h) can yield one-dimensional (1D) carbonaceous nanowires in the presence of tellurium nanowire template. The subsequent solution-evaporation-self-assembly process results in the formation of macro-scale two-dimensional (2D) hydrophilic CNM sheet with large specific surface area, developed nanoporosity, and abundant superficial oxygen-containing functional groups. Owing to these unique properties, the CNM is shown to be capable of efficiently adsorbing a variety of heavy metals, and highly permeable to water molecules. The CNM synthesized gives precedence over conventional membrane and adsorbents, and demonstrates promise as sustainable nanomaterial for separation of heavy metals from water via membrane adsorption process. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.