Studies on Synthesis and Environmental Applications of Biopolymer Chitosan Based Materials

Abstract

Water is the vital asset for the survival of living creatures. The presence of synthetic chemicals in water system is disastrous for the environment as well as human civilization. Therefore, the detection and elimination of organic and inorganic pollutants from polluted water are the emerging areas of research. Their immense adverse effects on living beings urged scientists to do research efforts for the water reclamation employing greener technology. Adsorption technology using biocompatible material is considered as one of the successful approaches because it is fast, cost effective, highly efficient, and safe. Among several natural materials based adsorbents, chitosan is the most efficient adsorbent, having desirable characteristic properties The modification of chitosan biomaterial by grafting and crosslinking agents resultantly enhances the adsorption performance and impart differential response in the adsorption behaviour. Heterogenous photocatalysis using efficient semiconductor is another greener approach for the elimination of water contaminants. The efficiency of the semiconductor photocatalyst majorly depends upon its structural properties which are controlled by fabricating them upon suitable template. And to overcome the separation constraints of photocatalysts for its reusability, nanocomposites have been synthesized using biomaterial support. Before removing water pollutants, selective detection and quantification of water contaminants under permissible limit is the topmost priority. Considering these issues, the present research focuses on the synthesis, characterization and application of chitosan based grafted and crosslinked polymers as adsorbents, chitosan templated synthesis of metal oxides, chitosan based nanocomposites as photocatalyst, and chemically modified chitosan as fluorescent sensors for the elimination and detection of water pollutants.