Nanoparticles for Degradation of Organic Pollutants

Abstract

Water pollution is becoming a serious threat to the environment. The access to safe drinking water, especially for the poor, is reaching an alarmingly low level, and the number of people suffering from kidney, stomach, and liver diseases, etc. is increasing every day. Among various pollutants, organic pollutants have major contribution in the contamination of water. These pollutants include toxic dyes, pharmaceutical compounds, industrial chemicals, and organic solvents, etc. Various routes are being employed for the removal/degradation of these pollutants. The use of nanoparticles (i.e., metal nanoparticles, nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, and graphene oxide-based nanocomposite materials) possesses significant position as photocatalysts. This chapter has a focus on the environment remediation using these nanomaterials and contains the recent work in this field.