Functionalized Nanomaterial for Environmental Techniques Publisher



Darwish M¹ ; Mohammadi A² Show Affiliations
Source: Nanotechnology in Environmental Science Published:2018

Abstract

Over the past few years, a great deal of effort has been dedicated to the engineering of nanoscale materials for environmental remediation. Promising results have been obtained in this regard where researchers managed to develop nanomaterials that offer the possibility of an efficient adsorption or destruction of pollutants and disinfection of microbial contaminants besides the great advancement in detection of chemical and biological substances. However, despite their superior properties, applicability of such materials is still in infancy due to many challenges. These challenges relate directly to three major issues. First, the potential impact of nanomaterials on human health and ecosystem. Second, the reusability and limited activity/selectivity of nanomaterials that affects many other aspects such as the cost of treatment and, once again, impact on the environment. Third, the influence of the environmental circumstances on the nanomaterials themselves. Functionalization of the nanomaterials holds the promise of designing new materials and devices that take advantage of unique phenomena offered by the nanoscale materials with the convenient solutions to surpass the drawbacks that hinder the full-scale application of nanotechnology in the environmental field. Many well-known tactics have been proven feasibility so far. For instance, covering the nanoparticle core surface with a capping agent was suggested to protect nanomaterials from corrosion and lower their toxicity. Furthermore, composites of nanomaterials with various ferrites and natural magnetites that can be easily retrieved using an external magnetic field have been designed in order to obtain recoverable and reusable nanomaterials. Properties of some nanomaterials such as zeolites could be further tailored by localization of some organic functional groups in order to enhance the selectivity toward specific pollutants. Likewise, functionalized carbon nanotube-based sensors have shown higher selectivity and sensitivity to the target analytes. Other functionalization techniques and the corresponding environmental applications are briefed in this chapter. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. All rights reserved.