Plasmonic Nanocomposites for Sustainable Environmental Remediation

Sustainable approaches to environmental remediation necessitate a paradigm shift away from conventional purification techniques toward the adoption of innovative methods aimed at safeguarding ongoing human existence. In recent years, plasmonic nanocomposites have treasured significant attention for their outstanding potential in sustainable environmental remediation owing to their tunable properties, like photothermal, optical, conductive, and catalytic. Plasmonic nanocomposites are formed by combining metallic nanoparticles showing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and a supporting matrix to achieve specific properties or functionalities. The above-mentioned properties of plasmonic nanocomposites have been broadly utilized to fabricate these nanomaterials for sustainable environmental remediation by enhancing charge separation efficiency, redox reaction kinetic rates, and the light absorption efficiency. In this chapter, the recent advancements made in developing suitable and effective plasmonic nanocomposites for sustainable environmental remediation will be discussed. Various types of plasmonic nanocomposites such as bulk, assembled, responsive, and interfacial are quoted in detail. The tunable properties of plasmonic nanocomposites are discussed, and based upon these interesting properties, how they are sustainably employed for the degradation of toxic pollutants from water and air along with the microbial inactivation is described. In addition, specific to environmental remediation, the challenges and future prospects of plasmonic nanocomposites are mentioned in detail.