ABSTRACT
In recent decades, nanoparticles (NPs) have begun to be used not only in industry but also in agriculture. The size (0.1–100 nm) of NPs determines their different chemical, physical, and biological properties, distinguishing them from large-scale particles. These new features of the particles allow to use them for remediation of contaminated soils and waters. Nanoremediation technologies are new and fast growing. The base advantages of these methods for remediation are high efficiency and rapidness, but they are relatively expensive technologies. Organic contaminants and metals from soils and waters can be easily removed using NPs. Latterly, a new type of contaminant is emerged – nano- and micro-plastic particles. Contamination of environment with nano- and microplastic is a huge problem for ecosystem of the Earth. Remediation of the plastic contaminant with NPs is a new process but with very god prospects. Also, the ecological impact of nanomaterials on the environment is still poorly studied. There are many types of NPs but only some of them are used for the processes of removal of contaminants. The most used nanomaterials for remediation are carbon particles, especially carbon nanotubes (CNTs), zero-valent iron (nZVI), metallic (MeNPs) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). CNTs are mostly used to remove organic pollutants due to their absorption properties. nZVI NPs are high reactive, and this is the main reason for their widespread use in remediation of soil 30and ground water. MNPs have unique properties for magnetic separation and absorption of metal ions and are therefore used in the purification of soil and groundwater contamination with metals. Other particles such as chitosan (CS) NPs are increasingly being used in the process of remediation. The advantages of CS NPs are their nontoxicity and biodegradability. In this chapter, I will discuss the principles and methods of nanoremediation, the types of nanomaterials used for remediation, as well as their environmental impact.
