Nanoremediation: An Innovative Approach for Environmental Safety

Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science with a wide range of applications in various areas including environmental safety. Cleanup of environmental pollutants by the application of nanotechnology has tremendous prospects due to the superiority of nanomaterials (NMs) over micro-materials. This superiority lies in their small size and large surface area. Many types of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) such as the zero-valent iron, gold, silver, copper, and metal oxide NPs such as copper oxide (CuO/Cu2O), zinc oxide (ZnO), and titanium oxide (TiO2) have been extensively studied in the environmental remediation process. This chapter encompasses the significance of nanoscience and nanotechnology in the clean-up of environmental pollutants, types of NMs being used for environmental remediation, and their production and application in surface, ground, and brackish water remediation, soil remediation, and atmospheric pollution control. The effects of NMs on soil microbial communities with reference to their impact on bioremediation are also discussed. Finally, the current state of knowledge on the challenges faced by the use of NMs for environmental remediation and future prospects of nanotechnology to ensure environmental safety is briefly described.