Chapter 9: Sustainable Nanotechnology: Preparing Nanomaterials from Benign and Naturally Occurring Reagents

Sustainable nanotechnology relates to the research and development of nanomaterials that have economic and societal benefits while, at the same time, minimizing negative environmental impacts. This chapter presents the preparation of sustainable nanomaterials using benign and naturally occurring reagents from both economic and environmental viewpoints. It reviews some of the significant milestones achieved towards sustainable development of nanomaterials. These include the preparation of non-toxic quantum dots, green gold, green silver, Tollens and polysaccharide methods, and green graphene nanosheets. Others are safer-by-design concepts, biologically inert SiO₂, microwave irradiation and the use of biomass precursors. A case study is presented from the authors’ laboratory for the synthesis of nanostructured poly(amic) acid (PAA) membranes using the ‘sustainable by design’ (S^bD) concept. S^bD of biodegradable, non-cytotoxic PAA membranes was achieved by integrating amphiphilic polymers, chitosan and cyclodextrins while controlling the membrane chemistry, thickness, porosity and the method of desolvation.