Environmental remediation using metals and inorganic and organic materials: a review

In recent times, environmental pollution has been an alarming concern. This is increasing day-in-and-day-out, especially in the Asia-Pacific region due to the increasing population, urbanization, industrialization and inappropriate waste management measures. Pollution abatement is the need of the hour to sustain the biosphere in general and the human life in particular. A range of physical, chemical and biological strategies are commonly employed to remove pollutants from the contained water, soil and air. Physical, chemical or physicochemical remediation processes are commonly employed owing to their high efficiency, stability, recyclable property and low procurement cost as compared to metals, inorganic and organic materials. Materials of the later type include biocomposites, thin films, modified (bio)polymers, nanoparticles, nanofilters, sorbent like activated charcoal, and carbon nanotubes and nanosensors. Remediation mechanism largely follows sorption, degradation, oxidation, reduction, catalytic conversion, detection and microbial toxicity principles. This review details the mechanisms of action by these various remediating entities, their successful applications in pollution abatement, drawbacks and future prospects.HighlightsEnvironmental remediation using metals, inorganic and organic materials are discussed extensively.Major remediating approaches, viz., physical, physicochemical and chemical are elaborated citing latest references.The significance of biocomposites, biopolymers, polymers, thin films, nanoparticles, nanofilters, nanosensors and sorbents in remediation are highlighted.Pollutant removal from water, air and soil has been precisely discussed.A note on drawbacks, improvement and future prospects of remediating agents is presented.