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The present study reports a hydrogel-based sunlight-assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with enhanced antimicrobial and wound healing potential. The hydrogel extracted from the seeds of Cydonia oblonga was used as a reducing and capping agent to synthesize Au NPs for the first time. The as-synthesized Au NPs were characterized for an average size, shape, surface functionalization, antimicrobial, and wound healing capabilities. The cubic and rectangular-shaped Au NPs with an average edge length of 74 ± 4.57 nm depicted a characteristic surface plasmon resonance band at 560 nm. The hydrogel-based Au NPs inhibited the growth of microorganisms in zones with 12 mm diameter. In-vitro experiments showed that a minimum inhibitory concentration of Au NPs (16 µg/mL) was sufficient to mimic the 95% growth of pathogenic microorganisms in 24 h. In vivo treatment of wounds with Au NPs in murine models revealed a 99% wound closure within 5 days. Quantitative PCR analysis performed to decipher the role of Au NPs in enhanced wound healing showed an increase in the expression levels of NANOG and CD-34 proteins.

Synthetic dyes from textile and other manufacturing industries in the wastewater are harmful due to their toxic, mutagenic, and cancer-causing nature, thus compelling for agile development of necessary processes to purify wastewater efficiently. Being a significant step of industrial wastewater purification, the removal of synthetic dyes is always challenging due to complex and stable aromatic molecular structures, hence the prime focus of current research. The techniques such as biodegradation, photocatalytic degradation, Fenton reagent, adsorption, and absorption are either less effective or costly with operational problems. Recent research reveals that fibrous membranes offer high-throughput performance to remove dyes from contaminated water. The chapter will cover the recent advancements in developing novel strategies for active, economical, and facile removal of synthetic dyes from wastewater using fibrous membranes. Different types of dyes and innovative methods for synthesis and modification of fibrous membranes are also discussed in detail. The chapter's core focus is to investigate the underlying mechanisms of dye removal using fibrous membranes for wastewater treatment.

Despite significant contributions to the country’s economy and human necessities, the textile industry consumes large quantities of dyes with the discharge of excessive deleterious dye effluents. The wastewater contaminated with dyes if not treated afore discharge poses serious intimidations to the environment and human health. The presence of dyes in untreated wastewater has grown into an emergent apprehension for scientists. Therefore, there is a calamitous prerequisite to discharge wastewater after treatment using different environmentally benign physical, chemical, and biological technologies. The chapter emphasizes the treatment of wastewater dye effluents with membrane-based technologies such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse, and forward osmosis. Recent trends in the aforesaid techniques with the benefits and drawbacks have also been reconnoitered in detail. The critical analyses regarding the comparative efficiency of the membrane-based approaches for dye removal from wastewater have been explored systematically. The chapter will widen the industrial applications of membrane-based technology with cost-effectiveness, and performance in the future.

Dyes and pigments are complex organic molecules that are widely utilized in different industries leading to effluent discharge, thus polluting water and disturbing the aquatic life. A wide range of physicochemical and biological methods have been introduced for the dye remediation. Constant research developments over the last decade resulted in the evolution of traditional physiochemical methods into advanced oxidation processes. Likewise, biological treatments have also advanced from using microorganisms to biocatalysts and integrated biochemical approaches for dye remediation.

This book chapter summarizes the sources of heavy metals in water, treatment of wastewater, and diseases caused by polluted water due to heavy metals. Commonly, human interaction with heavy metal can occur through various routes, which include ingestion through food or drinks and inhalation of dust or fume. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, copper, cadmium, zinc, nickel, chromium, and arsenic cause growth problems, nervous system damage, cancer, organ damage, and in extreme cases death. In recent years, both the type and content of heavy metals in water have gradually increased due to fast global development and human activities.

Prompt amplification in industrialization and population has resulted in the heightened discharge of polluted water containing heavy metals, dyes, pigments, and other organic pollutants into freshwater systems, which upsets the quality of water, causes biotic menaces and harms the health of the human beings. Particularly heavy metals and dyes are harmful to aquatic life and are not biodegradable and must be extracted from wastewater before discharging into freshwater. Treatment of polluted water using various physicochemical methods such as electrolysis, chemical precipitation and flocculation, adsorption, reduction, ion-pair extraction oxidation, and electrochemical treatment is expensive and is associated with larger sludge production. Thus biochemical approaches are a contemporary area of research fascinating the researchers around the globe.