Bionanomaterials and their impact on organic pollutants via photodegradation

Due to rapid industrialization, organic contaminants are becoming a significant concern with special consideration on hazardous and refractory contaminants that need to be addressed effectively. Biomaterials and nanomaterials can be coupled to develop bionanomaterials for synergistic effect of biosorption and photocatalysis. The coupled bionanomaterials can be effectively used to remove organic pollutants by providing multiple and selective functional groups for efficient absorption on the nanoscale surface of biomaterials. Also, bionanomaterials help in dispersion and recovery of nanomaterials by modifying their band structure. In this chapter, the green route approach is discussed for the synthesis of eco-friendly and cost-effective bionanomaterials. The fabrication of biomaterials/nanomaterials is also discussed. The application of fabricated bionanomaterials to remove organic pollutants via photodegradation is also addressed. Although bionanomaterials are efficient to remove pollutants, there are still a few bottlenecks for their limited efficiency. Therefore, we also present an up-to-date research progress on bionanomaterials to improve their pollutant removal efficiency.