Use of nano-composites in removing pollutants

Nowadays water pollution has become a crucial issue around the world and the risk of human exposure to hazardous contaminants has increased dramatically. Providing clean and affordable water to meet human needs is a great challenge of this century. Elements such as nutrients, heavy metals, and organic/inorganic compounds participate in major pollution in water and wastewater. The application of nano-composites for the removal of these pollutants from aqueous solutions has attracted significant attention. Nano-composites offer a promising alternative material for removal of various contaminants from water and wastewater. This article summarizes the application of different nano-composites for the removal of toxic elements from water and wastewater. In this article, we focus on pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, nutrients, and dyes. Here we review recent development in nanotechnology for water and wastewater treatment and the environmental and health effects of nano-materials (NMs) are discussed as well.