USE OF NANOPARTICLES IN THE DEGRADATION OF CONTAMINANTS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS

• DOI: 10.37572/EdArt_2908226687

• Palavras-chave: Bioremediation, contaminants, aquatic environment, nanoparticles.

• Keywords: Bioremediation, contaminants, aquatic environment, nanoparticles.

• Abstract:

  Food, pharmaceutical, textile industries, among others, are the main sources of environmental contamination due to their untreated wastewater discharge containing toxic compounds to the ecosystem. The increase in the consumption of the products from these industries has caused a serious problem of environmental contamination and it is necessary to take measures to control and eliminate these contaminants. Degradation of contaminants is an alternative to solve this problem, thus, there are conventional methods that are used for this purpose and are categorized into physical, chemical and biological methods. Among the biological methods is bioremediation which consists of using microorganisms or their metabolites for the degradation of contaminants. With the aim of improving bioremediation techniques, currently nanobiotechnology has been proposed as an attractive alternative for its various advantages compared to other techniques. Nanobiotechnology consists of generating nanoparticles of different structures and compositions that are applied to remedy contaminated environments, such as textile dyes in wastewater. The qualities that hold the nanoparticles are:  large surface area, high surface/volume ratio and high adsorption capacity; these qualities provide greater efficiency for the degradation of contaminants in comparison with other methods. This chapter focuses on the different types of nanoparticles that are used in the bioremediation of contaminants in aquatic environmental, such as magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanoparticles, polymers, titanium or silver nanoparticles. Besides, the use of complex nanoparticles for the immobilization of enzymes that participate in the degradation of contaminants is contemplated. This chapter provides to the reader with an update and a different approach to the contamination problem in aquatic environments.

• Número de páginas: 14