Application of Nanotechnology in Water Research

Chapter 5

Polysaccharide-Based Nanosorbents in Water Remediation

R.B. Shrivastava¹, P. Singh², J. Bajpai² and A.K. Bajpai*^,2

¹Defense Institute of High Altitude Research, Leh (Jammu and Kashmir), India

²Base Memorial Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Government Autonomous Science College, Jabalpur, India

*Corresponding author: [e-mail]

Abstract

Heavy metals is a general collective term usually applied to elements such as Hg, Pb, Cr, Cu, Ni, Cd and Co. These metals are major pollutants of water, industrial effluents, marine water and even treated wastewater. Environmental contamination by these heavy metals is a widespread problem arising from ever-growing industrial activities. Intake of polluted water is well known to cause various types of diseases like muscle pain, weakness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, and can even cause cancer and death in many cases. Hence it is mandatory to remove these and other similar toxic metal ions from water and, therefore, appropriate treatments and measures need to be employed in polluted waters to attain the required acceptable environmental standards. In recent years, many approaches have been developed, including adsorption, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, coagulation, membrane permeation and oxidation.

The present chapter deals with the role of polysaccharide-based nanoparticles for the removal of inorganic metal toxicants from drinking water. The chapter covers an introduction to polysaccharides, their ...