ABSTRACT
The demands of the expanding population have directly impacted the upsurge in global industry. Industrialization and urbanization have led to an increase in various pollutants, such as pesticides, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pharma waste, and explosives, which pose a great threat to all types of ecosystems, especially aquatic ecosystems. The availability of traditional approaches is inadequately successful in dealing with the current challenges of environmental contamination, thus, an alternative strategy like nanoremediation can offer better alternatives. Nanoremediation is a novel technique for environmental remediation that employs synthetically engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). These nano-sized particles have characteristic properties 172that provide the opportunity to recognize, monitor, prevent, reduce, and treat contaminants at much lower cost and energy with greater efficiency. A variety of nanomaterials are being explored, yet commercially, only a few are being used viz inorganic nanomaterials (metal or metal-oxide NMs) and organic nanomaterials (carbon NMs, silica NMs, and polymer-based NMs). Despite many advantages, nanoremediation faces some drawbacks, too. Therefore, the present aim of this chapter is to describe the different uses of nanomaterials, notably in the context of water remediation, and provide current studies and methodologies linked to nanotechnology applications for aquatic remediation.
