Fabrication and functionalization of biomass derived nanomaterials for the remediation of environmental pollution

Abstract

Biomass derived materials have been on the upswing for several years due to their excellent properties such as bio degradability, bio renewability, low cost and environment friendly characteristics. Their potential to serve as outstanding candidates in the field of environment remediation is an emerging research area. Various bio-polymeric materials such as cellulose, lignin, pectin, chitosan etc. have grabbed attention of research consortium to develop biomass based engineered nanosystems. Despite remarkable characteristics, simultaneous effect of catalytic efficiency and adsorption properties of these nanomaterials along with their enhanced reusability has not been examined so far. More research efforts are necessary for the development of nanosystems that could be proficiently used as a catalysts as well as adsorbents with the added advantage of facile recovery for real wastewater treatment plants. So a systematic and comparative study for the exploitation of various biomass derived nanomaterials with various modifications viz. functionalization and via formation of nanocomposites with spinel nanoferrites and other polymeric materials has been carried out in the current investigation. The fabricated nanomaterials have been explored as efficient catalysts and adsorbents for the removal of variety of organic pollutants such as textile effluents, pharmaceutical wastes and pesticides. Because of the ubiquitous presence of biomass in the environment, the whole work is an effort to explore efficient, low cost and eco-friendly nanomaterials for the obliteration of perilous contaminants. newline