New perspectives in environmental water remediation through advanced materials

The presence of hazardous pollutants in surface and drinking water may cause long-term exposure that represent a potential risk for both the environment and human health. Many studies have evidenced that conventional technologies used for wastewater treatment do not completely remove pollutant residues, which can be detected in receiving waters at concentrations ranging from nanograms to micrograms per liter. Nanomaterials are promising materials to develop efficient water treatment and remediation systems in place or in addition to conventional technologies. This contribution provides an overview on the use of nanostructured sorbents and advanced oxidation processes for the removal of emerging compounds from water and wastewater with particular attention towards herbicides and pharmaceutical compounds. Examples of removal of glyphosate and bentazone, two of the most widely used herbicides around the world, through properly designed silica mesostructured substrates will be given. Regeneration possibilities through chemical and photochemical approaches will be discussed, as well as applications to real cases. Removal of pharmaceutical compounds by ceramic materials derived from polycarbosilanes and polysiloxanes will be also shown.