Application of Zero-valent Iron Nanoparticles for Environmental Clean Up - Advanced Materials for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Safety - page 384

decipher potential issues related to the treatment of contaminated environmental
matrices (ground water, surface water, aquifers and soil).
Keywords : Zero-valent iron nanoparticles, stabilized iron nanoparticles, bimetal-
lic iron nanoparticles, contaminants, remediation/degradation
14.1 Introduction
Nanotechnology is an area which touches almost every aspect of the mod-
ern world ranging from research application, medical i eld, and information
technology to consumer goods. In the past two decades, nanotechnology
has advanced on all fronts: pharmaceutics, engineering, electronics, optics,
etc. Here the question arises; why is nanotechnology gaining so much
attention? h e answer to this question resides in the unique features of
nanoparticles, which are associated with their extremely small size, high
surface area to volume ratio and high intrinsic energies. h ese proper-
ties signii cantly increase the proportion of atoms located at the surface of
nanoparticles in comparison to the bulk, which in turn is responsible for
the enhanced tendency to interact with atoms, ions and molecules or the
complexes present in their ambience. h e magnii cence of nanoparticles
is that the novel phenomenon and properties (optical, magnetic, electric,
physical, etc.) which arise due to their nanometer length scale could be
exploited for a wide array of applications in domestic as well as industrial
processes. For instance, Copper (Cu) nanoparticles smaller than 50 nm,
are considered as super hard materials that exhibit malleability and ductil-
ity completely dif erent from bulk copper. Another example is Silver (Ag),
which is considered chemically inert at macroscale, whereas nanosized Ag
is used as antimicrobial agent. Likewise, Gold (Au) nanoparticles display
remarkably dif erent properties (color, melting point, etc.) when compared
with bulk material of Au. Similar to these, numerous examples can be
found in literature which show the utility of controlling and/or manipulat-
ing the material at nanometer-length scale.
With the continuous advancement of industrialization and urbaniza-
tion, the level of pollution has increased many folds in the past few decades,
contaminating almost every compartment of the environment. h is is
af ecting the health of millions of people worldwide and incessantly degrad-
ing the environmental quality. In response to the continuously increasing
need to address the problem of environmental contamination, several
remediation technologies/methods have been proposed and investigated
in the past. In the advancement of the search for potential remediation
technologies, nanotechnology has introduced a new dimension to the area