Addressing the global water crisis: a comprehensive review of nanobiohybrid applications for water purification

Abstract

Abstract Systematic and organized handling of pre-existing and ever-emerging pollutants, which are continuously contaminating the freshwater resources and causing severe problems in aquatic bodies, aerial environments, and earthbound flora and fauna, is an absolute must. These pollutants contribute to one of the major global problems of scarcity of pristine water for daily use. In the last decades, different types of water cleaning and purification techniques have been embraced to address the issue. Traditional and standard water purification techniques have several shortcomings, like high time consumption, expensive operation and maintenance, and lower affinity with low efficiency toward newly emerging micropollutants. The circumstances demand that we adopt and develop a relatively new purification approach through ‘nanobiohybrids.’ Though for a long time, nanomaterials, nanohybrids, and enzymes have previously been used for water treatment, each of these materials has its unique challenges. Advance oxidation processes, production of toxic intermediates, lesser selectiveness and sensitivity toward dilute solutions, catalyst leaching and for enzymes shorter shelf life, extreme sensitiveness toward mechanical stress, and separation difficulties for reuse are some major problems. Now, the combination of nanomaterials with biomolecules (especially enzymes), known as ‘nanobiohybrids,’ is a powerful combination that holds the potential to overcome the abovementioned issues due to their synergistic properties. In the synthesis of nanobiohybrids, carbon nanotubes or graphene oxide, offer an excellent support matrix for enzymes, and play a significant role. This chapter discusses the background of nanobiohybrids, their recent development as a favorite candidate for novel water purification techniques, and their future.