Abstract:
Water is required for all life forms. Being the natural resource, it is the right of every individual to get the safe, clean and disinfected water for their use in adequate quantity. Due to increase in the urbanization, industrialization, population, global warming etc., exploitation of natural resources has increased extensively. Other than the depletion of quantity of safe drinking water, human interference has also degraded the quality of water by the insertion of industrial waste, domestic waste, agricultural waste, bio-medical waste etc. These substances have abruptly altered the natural composition of water. For the decontamination of water, several techniques have been identified and are in practice. Out of these, nanotechnology has been reported to demonstrate highly active against water decontamination and proved to be one of the most advanced and effective technique. Owing to their nano size, high rate of reaction, chemical stability and high surface area, nanomaterials are better agents against water remediation as compared to their bulky particles. This review paper mainly focuses on the use of various types of nanomaterials like metal nanoparticles, nano metal oxides, carbon based nanomaterials, dendrimers, zeolites and nanocomposites for the purification of drinking water. Use of these nanomaterials as catalysts, sorbent, membrane etc. has also been identified. Besides, a few drawbacks associated with nanotechnology along with their remediation have also been discussed in this paper.
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