Starch-Based Hybrid Nanomaterials for Environmental Remediation

Abstract

Environmental pollution is becoming a major global issue with increasing anthropogenic activities that release massive toxic pollutants into the land, air, and water. Nanomaterials have gained the most popularity in the last decades over conventional methods because of their high surface area to volume ratio and higher reactivity. Nanomaterials including metal, metal oxide, zero-valent ions, carbonaceous nanomaterials, and polymers function as adsorbents, catalysts, photocatalysts, membrane (filtration), disinfectants, and sensors in the detection and removal of various pollutants such as heavy metals, organic pollutants, dyes, industrial effluents, and pathogenic microbial. Polymer-inorganic hybrid materials or nanocomposites are highly studied for the removal of various contaminants. Starch, a heteropolysaccharide, is a natural biopolymer generally incorporated with other metal, metal oxide, and other polymeric nanoparticles and has been reported in various environmental remediation applications as a low-cost alternative for petroleum-based polymers. Therefore, this chapter mainly highlights the various nanomaterials used in environmental remediation, starch-based hybrid nanomaterials, and their application and limitations.

Removal of the Water Pollutant Ciprofloxacin Using Biodegradable Sorbent Polymers Obtained from Polysaccharides

“…We have focused our study on soluble starch (St), dextrin (Dx), and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). St attracted our attention because it is the least expensive polysaccharide, it can be obtained from abundant and widely distributed plants, and St has already been used in advanced functional material applications, including water treatment [32,33]. The major drawback of St is its water insolubility which can be partially overcome by using soluble starch, although it implies an extra cost derived from the use of high temperature to yield the complete dissolution of the high concentration of St needed for the crosslinking.…”

Heptachlor Epoxide -Pesticide- Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using Nano Zero Valent Iron: Operating Conditions, Response Surface Methodology, and Artificial Intelligence Neural Networks

“…The elimination of toxic organic pollutants such as heptachlor epoxide were investigated utilizing several approaches, including degradation, adsorption, electrocoagulation, enzymes, bacteria, and nanotechnologies [13][14][15][16]. Nano zero-valet metals such as iron has been widely employed in wastewater treatment by adsorption and degradation process, especially for pesticide removal [17][18][19]. The utilization of nano zero-valent iron is a highly promising technology for eliminating not just organochlorine pesticides, but also a wide range of other micropollutants [20,21].…”