Chapter 1 - Recent technologies for modern and future industry

Abstract

Improvement of human health and well-being is the final goal of any technological, social, and economic development. Conventional technologies only focused on the production of economically viable products, thereby neglecting the serious threats they posed to the society. Hence the society requires new technologies, moving toward clean and green technology development. Green nanotechnology is a branch of green technology which contributes considerably to environmental sustainability by producing nano-products and nanomaterials without harming human health and the environment and also provides solutions to environmental problems. Green nanotechnology utilizes the prevailing principles of green engineering and green chemistry. Green nanotechnology has the following benefits: less waste and greenhouse gas emissions, increase in energy efficiency, and minimized consumption of nonrenewable raw materials. This chapter focuses on the recent green technologies such as microbial production of nanoparticles and electrosynthesis, which utilizes electrochemistry to produce green nanomaterials. Microbial production of different nanomaterials of silver, platinum, mercury, gold, gold-silver alloy, palladium, U(VI), Tc(VII), Cr(VI), Co(III), Mn(IV), CdTe, Se, CuO, TiO2, ZnS, CdS, magnetite, etc. can be done by utilizing different bacterial species as discussed in the chapter, while the production of electrically conductive protein nanowires can be done by utilizing Geobacter sulfurreducens and genetically modified Escherichia coli. Moreover, both the old method and emerging methods of electrosynthesis such as Faraday's gold deflagration, sacrificial anode electrolysis, sonoelectrochemical synthesis, the Reetz-Mulheim method, gas-phase electrosynthesis, controlled potential electrolysis, underpotential deposition, targeted electrowinning, gas-diffusion electrocrystallization, and hybrid electrochemical approaches are discussed briefly in the chapter.