dye wastes. Among the listed methods, adsorption and photochemical degradation
are popular due to their economic, upscaling, and greener nature. Similarly, nanostructured materials have the potential to offer viable solutions to tackle such toxic
effluents owing to their greater surface to volume ratio and enhanced chemical
reactivity compared with their bulk form. Photochemical degradation of textile
wastes using such nanostructured materials has received considerable interest in
the last few decades. Extensive research has led to the design of smart and highpower adsorbents and photochemical degrading agents, such as composites, using
large number of polymeric materials. This chapter highlights and discusses the role
of important class of inorganic materials such as silica, carbon, and polymeric
composite materials for effective adsorbents and photochemical degrading agents
for a wide range of textile wastes. The chapter will give readers an overview of the
work done in the literature and directions for designing tools and strategies to
implement greener chemistry protocols for the protection of our environment.
Keywords Nanoparticles · Effluent · Textile waste · Chemical degradation · Silica
nanoparticle · Sorbents · Photochemical degradation · Magnetic nanoparticles · ZnO
18.1 Introduction
Water is a vital source of life for all living beings in the universe. However,
wastewater becomes a major threat for living beings worldwide. Sewage from the
textile industry is the foremost contributor to water pollution. Different effluents
from textile industries are enriched with auxiliary chemical species and dyes. The
dyeing process of a cloth is very important as it gives beauty to the finished fabric,
but at the same time, the dyes used in this process may cause environmental
pollution (Varadarajan and Venkatachalam 2016). Various kinds of synthetic dyes
are used in the textile industry, depending on the nature of fibers. During the process
of dyeing, the major portion of the dye is exhausted in the fabric material, whereas
some unexhausted portion is disposed off into the water and produces colored
wastewater. In general, synthetic dyes used in textile industry can be categorized
into three classes: anionic, cationic, and nonionic. Most of the anionic dyes have
acidic nature and are reactive, whereas cationic dyes possess basic character due to
the presence of the azo group. Because the cationic dyes are mostly composed of
benzidine and/or other related aromatic compounds, they are generally regarded as
carcinogenic. Due to their good solubility in water, such solutions cannot be treated
through conventional methods. Likewise, organic dyes in effluents are rich in
chemical compounds having high stability. Although their discharge in the water
streams is not very much, it is highly visible due to the staining features.
Various treatment strategies have been employed to handle dye-based wastes
from textile industries, such as adsorption, membrane filtration, ion exchange,
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B. Akram et al.
are popular due to their economic, upscaling, and greener nature. Similarly, nanostructured materials have the potential to offer viable solutions to tackle such toxic
effluents owing to their greater surface to volume ratio and enhanced chemical
reactivity compared with their bulk form. Photochemical degradation of textile
wastes using such nanostructured materials has received considerable interest in
the last few decades. Extensive research has led to the design of smart and highpower adsorbents and photochemical degrading agents, such as composites, using
large number of polymeric materials. This chapter highlights and discusses the role
of important class of inorganic materials such as silica, carbon, and polymeric
composite materials for effective adsorbents and photochemical degrading agents
for a wide range of textile wastes. The chapter will give readers an overview of the
work done in the literature and directions for designing tools and strategies to
implement greener chemistry protocols for the protection of our environment.
Keywords Nanoparticles · Effluent · Textile waste · Chemical degradation · Silica
nanoparticle · Sorbents · Photochemical degradation · Magnetic nanoparticles · ZnO
18.1 Introduction
Water is a vital source of life for all living beings in the universe. However,
wastewater becomes a major threat for living beings worldwide. Sewage from the
textile industry is the foremost contributor to water pollution. Different effluents
from textile industries are enriched with auxiliary chemical species and dyes. The
dyeing process of a cloth is very important as it gives beauty to the finished fabric,
but at the same time, the dyes used in this process may cause environmental
pollution (Varadarajan and Venkatachalam 2016). Various kinds of synthetic dyes
are used in the textile industry, depending on the nature of fibers. During the process
of dyeing, the major portion of the dye is exhausted in the fabric material, whereas
some unexhausted portion is disposed off into the water and produces colored
wastewater. In general, synthetic dyes used in textile industry can be categorized
into three classes: anionic, cationic, and nonionic. Most of the anionic dyes have
acidic nature and are reactive, whereas cationic dyes possess basic character due to
the presence of the azo group. Because the cationic dyes are mostly composed of
benzidine and/or other related aromatic compounds, they are generally regarded as
carcinogenic. Due to their good solubility in water, such solutions cannot be treated
through conventional methods. Likewise, organic dyes in effluents are rich in
chemical compounds having high stability. Although their discharge in the water
streams is not very much, it is highly visible due to the staining features.
Various treatment strategies have been employed to handle dye-based wastes
from textile industries, such as adsorption, membrane filtration, ion exchange,
664
B. Akram et al.