Future trends of nanomaterials in environmental analysis

Abstract

The protection of the ecosystem is of great importance for the provision of health and better quality of life for both humans and other living things. In this context, environmental monitoring is essential to understand whether the environmental quality is getting better or worse. Therefore many different methods are frequently used for environmental monitoring. Nanomaterials are ultrasmall particles with exceptional features, and they are widely researched in many different areas such as water treatment, catalysis, oil processing, medicine, food, sensors, and energy storage. Compared to bulk materials, nanomaterials provide a higher surface/volume ratio and exhibit higher adsorption capacity. Additionally, their outstanding physical, chemical, morphological, mechanical, thermal, optical, and magnetic properties make them more attractive. The use of nanomaterials in optical or electrochemical detection methods and sample preparation significantly improves sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. Different nanomaterials, including carbon-based nanomaterials, metallic nanomaterials, metal-organic frameworks, conducting polymers, and quantum dots, have been used to determine pesticides, ions, antibiotics, etc., in environmental samples. However, despite their outstanding advantages, there are still challenges to the applications of nanomaterials. This chapter has compiled potential benefits, drawbacks, and future perspectives of nanomaterial-based optical, electrochemical, and sample preparation methods for environmental analysis. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.