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G. Pandey et al.
as well as for the ecological safety (Wang et al. 2018). Developing countries witness
around 14,000 deaths per day, majorly because of the consumption of contaminated
water (Johnston et al. 2010; Rodríguez-Lado et al. 2013). Pollutants such as pesticides
(Rawtani et al. 2018), nitrates (Tyagi et al. 2018) and metals (Khatri et al. 2017a,
b) are severely depleting the quality of surface and groundwater (Khatri and Tyagi
2015; Khatri et al. 2016a). Apart from pollution, the need of energy has increased
many folds in past years due to the huge population. Energy production through
green routes and development of eco-friendly energy storage systems is becoming
the need of the hour.
In the past decade, various technological and scientific works have been made
by environmental engineers to tackle the problem of environmental pollution and
depleting energy sources (Kamat 2007, 2008). Environmental engineering deals with
the employment of principles of engineering in order to safeguard the environment
of the earth and local surroundings from detrimental effects, which are produced due
to natural or human activities. The thrust areas of research in this field mainly include
the development of highly efficient, and at the same time economical solutions for
the eve increasing pollution levels in the environment, mainly for the treatment of
polluted air and water.
In recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as an efficient technological aid in
order to tackle such kinds of energy and environmental issues. This recent technology deals with the fabrication of materials in the nanometer range by manipulating
the atoms and molecules present in the bulk material (Pandey et al. 2016; Tharmavaram et al. 2017). Various kinds of nanomaterials, especially nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires, nanosheets and nanorods have proficiently proved their potential
in different areas. In the field of environmental remediation, early determinations
mainly concentrated in the development of photocatalytic nanomaterials for degrading toxic dyes from the industries (Akpan and Hameed 2009; Byrne et al. 2018).
Using nanotechnology-based materials, some of the recent researchers have targeted
the pharmaceutical effluents, products of personal care with endocrine disrupting
compounds, since these types of contaminants do not get effectively removed during
the wastewater treatment (Ebele et al. 2017; Fagan et al. 2016). However, a major
concern regarding the toxicity of nanomaterials has arisen before the researchers, as
far as environmental applications are concerned (Du et al. 2018). Moreover, the cost
involved in the synthesis of various nanomaterials is also significantly high, which
limits their bulk usage for energy storage or environmental remediation. Therefore,
in the field of environmental engineering, an eco-friendly and non-toxic alternative
for these nanomaterials can be a better choice for various applications such as the
production of green energy, energy storage, water remediation and gas separation.
Halloysite Nanotubes (HNT), a naturally occurring clay-based nanomaterial can
be the best alternative for the aforementioned purposes. This chapter initially sheds
light on the HNT, its structure, properties and the types of guest molecules which can
be immobilized on the nanotubes. Further, the use of such guest@HNT composite
for the energy and environmental applications has also been discussed in detail.
G. Pandey et al.
as well as for the ecological safety (Wang et al. 2018). Developing countries witness
around 14,000 deaths per day, majorly because of the consumption of contaminated
water (Johnston et al. 2010; Rodríguez-Lado et al. 2013). Pollutants such as pesticides
(Rawtani et al. 2018), nitrates (Tyagi et al. 2018) and metals (Khatri et al. 2017a,
b) are severely depleting the quality of surface and groundwater (Khatri and Tyagi
2015; Khatri et al. 2016a). Apart from pollution, the need of energy has increased
many folds in past years due to the huge population. Energy production through
green routes and development of eco-friendly energy storage systems is becoming
the need of the hour.
In the past decade, various technological and scientific works have been made
by environmental engineers to tackle the problem of environmental pollution and
depleting energy sources (Kamat 2007, 2008). Environmental engineering deals with
the employment of principles of engineering in order to safeguard the environment
of the earth and local surroundings from detrimental effects, which are produced due
to natural or human activities. The thrust areas of research in this field mainly include
the development of highly efficient, and at the same time economical solutions for
the eve increasing pollution levels in the environment, mainly for the treatment of
polluted air and water.
In recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as an efficient technological aid in
order to tackle such kinds of energy and environmental issues. This recent technology deals with the fabrication of materials in the nanometer range by manipulating
the atoms and molecules present in the bulk material (Pandey et al. 2016; Tharmavaram et al. 2017). Various kinds of nanomaterials, especially nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires, nanosheets and nanorods have proficiently proved their potential
in different areas. In the field of environmental remediation, early determinations
mainly concentrated in the development of photocatalytic nanomaterials for degrading toxic dyes from the industries (Akpan and Hameed 2009; Byrne et al. 2018).
Using nanotechnology-based materials, some of the recent researchers have targeted
the pharmaceutical effluents, products of personal care with endocrine disrupting
compounds, since these types of contaminants do not get effectively removed during
the wastewater treatment (Ebele et al. 2017; Fagan et al. 2016). However, a major
concern regarding the toxicity of nanomaterials has arisen before the researchers, as
far as environmental applications are concerned (Du et al. 2018). Moreover, the cost
involved in the synthesis of various nanomaterials is also significantly high, which
limits their bulk usage for energy storage or environmental remediation. Therefore,
in the field of environmental engineering, an eco-friendly and non-toxic alternative
for these nanomaterials can be a better choice for various applications such as the
production of green energy, energy storage, water remediation and gas separation.
Halloysite Nanotubes (HNT), a naturally occurring clay-based nanomaterial can
be the best alternative for the aforementioned purposes. This chapter initially sheds
light on the HNT, its structure, properties and the types of guest molecules which can
be immobilized on the nanotubes. Further, the use of such guest@HNT composite
for the energy and environmental applications has also been discussed in detail.