Nano-bioremediation of environmental contaminants: applications, challenges, and future prospects

Abstract The release of toxic substances and heavy metals into the environment is one of the major issues in our society. At present, there are several new technological approaches to accelerate the cleanup of the contaminated sites. Bioremediation provides several decontamination strategies for contaminated areas, but not found suitable for all. The high concentration chemicals sites were not affected by the bioremediation strategies and are toxic to microbiomes. Hence, the combinatorial approach of the nanomaterials and bioremediation has vast prospective to be effective and sustainable. Due to unique physical and chemical and biochemical characteristics, small-size, high surface area nanoparticles, nanomaterials have gained much interest in different areas of environmental sciences, especially in bioremediation. In recent years, various nanoparticles like metal nanoparticles, biogenic nanoparticles, microbial nano-biomolecules, etc., have emerged as an important branch of nanotechnology and created substantial interest in the use of nanoparticles in various areas. Hence, nanomaterials may be utilized for bioremediation for removal of toxic contaminants, which will be beneficial in time consumption and cost reduction. In this review, we have discussed the several nanomaterials that have been applied so far in the bioremediation of contaminants and toxic materials.