Cancer is a lethal disease ravaging mankind claiming millions of lives. Most frequent methods of management include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of all the above-mentioned methods. However, there is no specific medication available to cure this condition completely and several compounds and drugs are constantly explored for their therapeutic effects. Recently, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, radiotherapy, targeted drug delivery, and hyperthermia have shown to be of great interest in cancer treatment. In this direction, bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanoparticles can be a promising option in cancer treatment and diagnosis as well. Bi is a well-known radioactive isotope; this emits high-energy gamma (γ) rays to the affected cells. This technology can pair with existing chemotherapy to enhance the therapeutic efficacy.

Background: Nanoparticles based thin-film has remarkable challenges in water desalination. Carbon allotropes (carbon nanotubes, graphene sheets and fullerene), metal and metal oxide nanoparticulates (titanium oxide, silver, copper oxide, alumina, zinc oxide, and metal-organic framework, silica, halloysite, zeolite, aquaporin and cellulose) are the out breaking materials for water desalination. Advanced materials in membrane forms are impacting the desalination processes in terms of reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, pervaporation, membrane distillation, and electrodialysis. Objective: The main objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview on the various methods of water desalination and the role of nanoparticles in this regard. Methods: We discussed the overall studies describing the process of desalination, viz. distillation, osmosis, freeze thaw desalination, electrodialysis, membranes, various types of nanoparticles used in desalination, current techniques in desalination, membrane technology with Algae treatment, environmental issues in desalination, future scopes and trials. Conclusion: Various polymeric membranes with graphene/carbon derivatives and nano-particulate integrated membranes are gaining enormous attention in the field of membrane technology for the desalination process. Nanoparticulate impregnated, natural algae conjugated polymeric membranes may provide a plethora of possibilities towards membrane filtration technology in the near future.