SURFACE MODIFIED MAGNETITE NANOPARTICLES: AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR THE SEPARATION OF TOXIC METAL IONS AND ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS FROM WASTEWATER

The last few centuries are witness of a remarkable increase in the trend towards industrialization and this, in turn, has led to a historic rise in many environmental problems.One of the major problems is the discharge of wastewater from industries to various natural water sources including rivers.Generally, the industrial effluents possess heavy metals and other organic pollutants that have adverse effects on the health of human beings and aquatic life.As a remedy to this environmental problem, novel and cost-effective nanoparticles have attracted the attention of researchers.In this context, appropriate surface-modified magnetite nanoparticles are found to be potential agents for wastewater treatment.This is possibly due to their large surface area and superparamagnetic character.Therefore, efforts have been made to prepare the new highly efficient surface tailored magnetite nanoparticles for metal ion removal from wastewater.In this review article, surface modified magnetite nanoparticles and their application to adsorb or remove contaminants from industrial streams were discussed systematically.