Abstract
Importance of the field: Environmental contamination is one of the important issues that the world is confronting today, and it is expanding with each passing year and leading to grave and harmful effect to the earth. At present, the air contains various pollutants like CO, chlorofluorocarbons, volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Water and soil are also contaminated with organic and inorganic compounds; the major sources for water and soil contamination are sewage water, industrial effluents, and random use of pesticides, fertilizers, and oil spills. In parallel, the rapid growth of nanotechnology has gained a great deal of interest in the applications of nanomaterial's potential in improved systems for monitoring and cleanup including all the three phases of environment . It can develop the pollutants sensing and detection and help in the improvement of novel remediation technologies.
Areas covered in this review: In this review, we discuss the recent progress towards the use of nanotechnology in a variety of above-mentioned applications. Furthermore, we expand upon the current progress in nanomaterial engineering approaches describing several recent examples that are utilized to enhance stability, catalytic efficiency, and utilization of alternate oxidants.
What the reader will gain: The review will provide a comprehensive knowledge in the definition of nanoparticles, and the nanotechnology concept, design of nanomaterial for potentially practical purposes. Finally, we provide a prospective on the future aspects of nanotechnology and its applications in air pollution remediation.
Take home message: Because of its wide applications, academic researchers, environmental scientists, and health care providers are expected to gain current knowledge and future prospects of the practical use of nanomaterial in environmental fields.