Nanoparticles: Synthesis & application in catalysis & effluent treatment

The effectiveness of a catalyst when worked at nanoscale dimensions give rise to an area of study known as Nanocatalysis which on meticulous research can provide path-breaking results. A nanocatalyst is one which has the ability to perform at atomic scale with one of its internal structure having nanoscale dimensions. This paper is an elementary work and focuses on the preparation, practical application and the substantial changes that occur when a conventional catalyst is replaced by Zn/Ni/Ti/Ce/Fe/Co nanocatalysts in the energy production sector aiming to decrease the consumption of conventional sources and harnessing energy from unexplored sources and also providing cleaner and greener fuel which is of current necessity. Among the substantial changes, it provides a very high surface to volume ratio which results into faster reaction and significantly reduces the catalyst activation energy thus providing better stability to the product and yielding an improved quality of fuel along with increased efficiency of the process. Moreover essential physical and chemical properties of a catalyst in the nano scale can be tailored according to need to achieve specific properties like strength, weight and reactivity and its geometry can be altered to fit into the substrate facilitating better affinity for reaction. It has been proven experimentally that those properties of a catalyst in macro form which are of not much significance show a tremendous activity in the nano scale. This paper also focuses on the synthesis of iron nanoparticles and its use in waste water treatment. Comparative studies of manufacture of a nanocatalyst on different substrates under different reaction conditions have been provided in this paper and there is huge scope of future work in this area due to the current energy demand resulting in the detrimental state of natural resources due to incessant exploitation and any positive result towards improvement of this will be highly beneficial for mankin- .