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Starting with a history of the fundamental science, currently, the perovskite structures exemplify the extensive manifestation of crystal chemistry which is associated with the smart synthesis techniques to develop a new type of material. The perovskite structures exhibit the most efficient single accomplished ceramic host. Perovskite structured nanomaterials had originated from CaTiO3. They are made up by the assembling of distinct materialistic components and follow the general configuration ABX3. Perovskite type metal oxide nanomaterial shows a wide range of ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric properties along with numerous optoelectrical effects. They get the facility to the various advanced technical applications due to the excellency in their properties. The photocatalytic activity may be one of the plausible and impulsive applications of that very special type of materials. Most elements in the periodic table are able to take part in designing the perovskite-type materials. Perovskite structured nanoparticles (NPs) are applying rapidly for global development because of their higher responsiveness and degree of function, large surface area, size-dependent properties etc and unfold the new possibilities in the field of nanotechnology.

Heavy metals and organic pollutants in water and wastewater are serious threats to global water safety as well as the environment. There are various highly toxic pollutants discharged from industries which mainly cause environmental pollution and may be toxic to the human body. Traditional treatment technologies remain ineffective, costly, and environmentally toxic for the removal of a variety of organic and inorganic pollutants and may create secondary pollution. Nanotechnology provides multifunctional and highly efficient low-cost approaches for water/wastewater treatments. Nowadays, researchers and scientists have developed promising processes to remove heavy metals and organic pollutants from water and wastewater, such as photocatalysis, adsorption, and removal of membrane. In all these techniques, nanomaterials which have different shapes and sizes play an important role. This chapter provides an overview of advances, challenges, and future prospects of nanotechnology for heavy metals and organic pollutants removal from water and wastewater.

Green synthesis is a simple, eco-friendly and emerging approach of synthesizing nanoparticles (NPs) and currently, attracting scientific community from around the world. The objective of the present study was to synthesize green titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs and evaluate its performance for the photocatalytic treatment of TWW after the secondary (biological) treatment process. TiO2 NPs was synthesized using leaf extract of the biodiesel plant, Jatropha curcas L. in a one-step at room temperature to examine its treatability for tannery wastewater (TWW). Moreover, the green synthesized TiO2 NPs was further characterized by UV–Visible spectrophotometer, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Barret-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) analysis. Results confirmed the synthesis and anatase phase of the spherical TiO2 NPs and also unfold the presence of phytochemicals in leaf extract, which might involve in the capping/stabilization of NPs. Further, the green synthesized TiO2 NPs was applied for the first time to testify its potential for the simultaneous removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and chromium (Cr) from secondary treated TWW. During the photocatalytic treatment of wastewater in a self-designed and fabricated Parabolic Trough Reactor (PTR), 82.26% removal of COD and 76.48% removal of Cr from TWW was achieved upon the treatment with green synthesize TiO2 NPs, and thus, successfully employed for the wastewater treatment. Overall, the green synthesized TiO2 NPs demonstrated the astounding potential for the in-situ treatment of TWW as an alternative clean-green treatment solution.

Environmental pollution is one of the major problems of the current world, and providing a sustainable solution to manage pollution is a key challenge. Industries are mainly responsible for the environmental pollution as they discharge highly toxic pollutants in the receiving environment and provide chance for exposure to mankind and, thus, may create toxicity in humans and animals. The physicochemical methods used for the removal of a variety of organic and inorganic pollutants from industrial wastewater are costly and environmentally destructive and may create secondary pollution and, thus, ultimately deter the environmental quality. To overcome these problems, various emerging and ecofriendly technologies are becoming popular for the removal of various pollutants from industrial wastewaters. Therefore, this chapter provides an overview of the various emerging and ecofriendly technologies for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from industrial wastewaters with their merits and demerits.

In the present study, sunlight irradiation induced strategy for the rapid green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), is reported for the first time using glycolipid bio-surfactant. On exposing a mixture of silver nitrate solution and glycolipid bio-surfactant in the ratio 3:1 to sunlight, stable silver nanoparticles were obtained within few minutes. The glycolipid bio-surfactant acts as both reducing and stabilizing agents in the synthesis of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles synthesized were characterized using UV–Vis spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscopy and FTIR. Synthesized nanoparticles were in the range of 70-90 nm with spherical shape. The absorption spectroscopy indicates the band gap of silver nanoparticles was 3.4 eV. Further, the antibacterial activity assay of the synthesized nanoparticle exhibits as potential antibacterial agents. Hence, the present study demonstrates that biologically synthesized nanoparticle could be employed for developing antibacterial drug.