CHAPTER 2: Green Materials for Sustainable Remediation of Metals in Water

In the evolution of the modern era, urbanization and uncontrolled industrial expansion are the major contributors to damage to the ecosystem, especially harming the aquatic environment through the generation of metal toxic waste. These commercially generated wastes travel through the ecological pathway and pollute the aqueous system. The resulting contaminated water is an affront to human dignity as it jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. So, the essence of healthy life is to integrate moral, ethical and economic environmental concerns with chemistry in a constructive way. Sustainable site cleanup and revitalization requires sound green cleanup technologies and materials that restore contaminated water bodies to productive use, reduce associated costs, avoid collateral damage and promote environmental stewardship. Thus, taking into account the environmental and cost benefits, the main body of the chapter emphasizes the comprehensive and generalized view of available green technologies, their processes and applications for metal remediation.