Chapter 17 - Functionalized nanofibers for remediation of organic pollutants and catalytic applications

Abstract

The inevitable urbanization and industrialization had brought about the synthesis of millions of organic compounds which ends up in the environment through several routes. These compounds disturb the ecosystem and pose threat to human health. Several treatment strategies for removing organic pollutants in wastewater have indeed been explored. The characteristics of most organic pollutants limit the efficiency of the biological-based treatment technologies and make the tertiary treatment technologies including membrane filtration, adsorption, and advanced oxidation methods, the processes of choice for their removal. A key component that determines the performance of these technologies is the physical and chemical characteristics of the material used as an adsorbent, photocatalyst, and/or membrane. Recently, functionalized nanofibers have developed as auspicious material as a means of removing organic pollutants through adsorption, heterogeneous photocatalysis, and membrane filtration technologies because of their appealing characteristics like the ease of fabrication, and functionalization, high surface area and porous structure, governable size of pores, interlinked pore structure, suitable mechanical performance, and ease of separation after wastewater treatment. Several polymeric, ceramic, and composite nanofibers have been explored for the removal of organic contaminants or pollutants from wastewater. The current chapter sheds light on the various types of organic pollutants, as well as their removal from wastewater using functionalized nanofibers as adsorbents, photocatalysts, and/or filtration membranes.