Abstract
Nanotechnology has been widely used in many fields including in soil and groundwater remediation. Nanoremediation has emerged as an effective, rapid, and efficient technology for soil and groundwater contaminated with petroleum pollutants and heavy metals. This review provides an overview of the application of nanomaterials for environmental cleanup, such as soil and groundwater remediation. Four types of nanomaterials, namely nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and metallic and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), are presented and discussed. In addition, the potential environmental risks of the nanomaterial application in soil remediation are highlighted. Moreover, this review provides insight into the combination of nanoremediation with other remediation technologies. The study demonstrates that nZVI had been widely studied for high-efficiency environmental remediation due to its high reactivity and excellent contaminant immobilization capability. CNTs have received more attention for remediation of organic and inorganic contaminants because of their unique adsorption characteristics. Environmental remediations using metal and MNPs are also favorable due to their facile magnetic separation and unique metal-ion adsorption. The modified nZVI showed less toxicity towards soil bacteria than bare nZVI; thus, modifying or coating nZVI could reduce its ecotoxicity. The combination of nanoremediation with other remediation technology is shown to be a valuable soil remediation technique as the synergetic effects may increase the sustainability of the applied process towards green technology for soil remediation.
Highlights
Contaminated soil and groundwater, especially in industrialized and urban areas, is a widespread problem that presents extreme risks to the environment and humans [1,2]
The results indicated that the mass ratio of S-nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) to BC could satisfy the amount of degradation and adsorption of TCE
The results suggest that Z-nZVI is a promising nanoremediation technology for long-term metal-contaminated soil remediation without ecotoxicity effects [107]
Summary
Contaminated soil and groundwater, especially in industrialized and urban areas, is a widespread problem that presents extreme risks to the environment and humans [1,2]. Numerous studies have focused on the remediation of soil, groundwater, wastewater, and landfill leachate polluted by various contaminants [3,4]. Soil and groundwater remediation can be broadly classified according to the place of remediation, which can be ex situ or in situ. The polluted soil or groundwater is recovered from the subsurface and treated on the same site or transferred to another site for treatment [5]. In situ remediation is when the contaminated soil or groundwater is remediated directly in the subsurface. According to Chany et al [7], the remediation cost of removal and replacement of contaminated soil is very expensive (on the order of $3 million/ha), which is considered a big challenge for developing countries in terms of environmental sustainability practice [7]
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