Published Paper Details:

Groundwater contamination by natural and anthropogenic sources is a serious threat to human health, agriculture, and environmental sustainability globally. Conventional remediation technologies frequently fail because of the drawbacks of high expense, poor selectivity, and production of secondary wastes. Over the past few years, nanotechnology has acted as a revolutionary tool for groundwater treatment offering superior performance due to its high surface area, tunable reactivity, and multifunctional capabilities. This review presents a comprehensive overview of various groundwater contaminants and their sources, along with the classification and analysis of nanomaterials used for remediation, including metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, carbon nanomaterials, nanocomposites, and nano-zeolites. The major contaminant removal mechanisms like adsorption, photocatalysis, redox conversion, ion exchange, and antimicrobial action are also discussed thoroughly. Moreover, the review also covers the environmental and health hazard related to nanomaterial deployment and the technical, economic, and regulatory issues limiting the large-scale deployment. Finally, it suggests future directions that include green synthesis, material functionalization, and integration with conventional treatment systems, a path toward sustainable, safe, and efficient groundwater treatment technologies.