Environmental Nanotechnology & Its Contribution to Sustainable Environment (Critical Analysis)

 

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Environmental Nanotechnology is the application of nanotechnology techniques to reducing or preventing damage to our environment. It may contribute by cleaning the pollutants, reducing the pollutants, making our devices more efficient and reducing cost of green technologies. 

Significance of environmental nanotechnology: 

• It will ensure optimum resource utilization, which ensures sustainable development 
• It will be helpful in reduction of pollution, which leads to a reduction in ecological footprint.
• It has an impact on making efficient renewable energy. 
• Promoting nature-based solutions 

Potential contribution of Environment nanotechnology for sustainable environment: 

• Removing pollutants from water: Environmental nanotechnology helps clean up organic chemicals polluting groundwater. E.g. Iron nanoparticles can be used to clean up organic solvents that are polluting the groundwater effectively. 
• Cleaning up of oil spills: Using photocatalytic copper tungsten oxide nanoparticles to break down oil into biodegradable compounds.
• Ensuring Potable Drinking Water: Use of Graphene-based water filters are expected to increase the accessibility of clean drinking water.
• Generating less pollution during manufacturing of materials: Use of silver nano particles as catalysts can significantly reduce the polluting by products in the process used to manufacture propylene oxides.
• Producing solar cells that generate electricity at competitive cost: Silicon nanowires embedded in a polymer result in low cost but high-efficiency solar cells.
• Increasing the electricity generated by windmills: The use of carbon nanotubes in windmill blades results in stronger and lower weight windmill blades. This helps in more amount of electricity generated by each windmill. 

Nanotechnology has potential solutions to various environmental and climate change related issues being faced by India. It’s high time that India’s Mission on Nano Science and technology is restructured to include R&D in the field of environment as one of its key goals.