Currently, there are a huge number of environmental issues that the world is facing from past few decades. However, the climate change is possibly the major environmental threat to deal with. The rise of 1.5–2 °C surface temperature has been recorded in last 40–50 years. In next 50–100 years the earth temperature will create harsh conditions for living and consequences would be catastrophic. Global warming is the major cause of climate change. The common reason of global warming is carbon-associated gas emission (greenhouse gases) from burning of fossil fuels in various industries, transportation, electricity production, agriculture and commercial sources. Though, pollution, urbanization, population etc. in similar way also contribute to climate change by disturbing the balance of the ecosystem. Nanotechnology, because of unique properties of nanomaterials, offers a wide range of applications in environment, agriculture, food and energy sectors. Not only the environmental nanotechnology can handle a range of environmental problems but also the nanotechnological products and processes are considered as the most effective and innovative tools/mode to accomplish sustainability goals. Nanostructured materials such as nanocomposites, functionalized nanomaterials, metal organic frameworks, nanocatalysts, carbonaceous materials, nano zeolites, nano silica, nano lubricants and nano coatings etc. have enormous possibilities in sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gases, biofuel production, wastewater treatment and environmental remediation using a sustainable approach. The present paper is an attempt to summarize the nanotechnology-based approaches to combat climate change. It aims to review the long-term effects of new nanocompounds to environment and promotion of sustainable methods to solve the climate change related problems.
Nanotechnology has reached to almost every sector and amazed the world by offering various potential applications in these sectors. Since nanostructure materials have been known for their unique physical and chemical properties and enhanced performance, hence preferred over their macrostructure counterparts. Food industry is one of the areas in which nanotechnology has transformed the way of preserving, processing, testing and packaging of foods. Nanotechnology based advanced packaging has made it possible to transport food items safely without spoiling the taste, nutrition and quality. Moreover, it also prevents contamination and sustains mechanical, physiological, physical and chemical properties of food items. Various nanomaterials have been used in food packaging to provide improved, active, bio-based, and smart/intelligent packaging. Smart/intelligent packaging ensures food safety by detecting contamination, gases, moisture, temperature and other food parameters by means of sensors. On the other hand, bio-based packaging employs biodegradable and biocompatible packaging material in place of conventional plastic for the protection from any kind of food spoilage. Although, more efforts are needed to resolve cost and other property related issues of bio-based packaging materials. There are many studies available on nanopackaging such as improved, active and intelligent packaging but only a few have focused on bio-based packaging. Bio-based packaging is next generation packaging that encourages the use of natural polymers instead of conventional plastics. This paper summarizes different types of nanopackaging materials with special focus on bio-based packaging and unique features and attributes of improved, active and intelligent packaging. Recent advances in bio-based packaging and presumed risk of nanoparticle migration have also been discussed.