Monica Baia - Böcker

Advanced Nanostructures for Environmental Health shows how advanced nanostructures are used to meet the most important challenges of our age. The book presents examples of how advanced nanostructures can detect and remove pollutants and other contaminant harmful to people's health and provides examples of diagnosis tools based on advanced nanostructures. Treatment possibilities with the use of nanostructures, such as phototherapeutic applications, radiation based treatment methods, and drug delivery systems are also explored.

Takes an interdisciplinary approach to the use of advanced nanostructures for applications, including both environmental science and biomedical perspectives Includes a range of case studies to show how nanomaterials are being used to solve real-life challenges Covered applications include the detection of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, (heavy) metals and metalloids, gas molecules, bacteria, viruses, and for water and air decontamination by advanced oxidation processes

Over the last several years it has become apparent to most researchers that interdisciplinary research is the key to success in the sciences’ future. The present book exemplifies such interdisciplinary work. Thus, some new derivatives have been prepared by chemists and consecutively analyzed by physicists in order to better understand their physical-chemical properties for future tests to be performed by pharmacists. The book consists of an introductory section and other eight chapters. First, the fundamentals of infrared, Raman and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and those of the theoretical methods employed for the vibrational prediction modes are highlighted. The SERS investigations illustrated in the following chapters are focused on different kinds of drugs: tranquilizers and sedatives, anti-inflammatory drugs, vitamins, drugs with anti-bacterial properties, etc. Since there is an increased interest in designing highly effective and controllable SERS-active substrates, a few newly developed substrates that could contribute to a deeper understanding and knowledge of the adsorption behavior of various types of molecules of pharmaceutical and medical interest are also presented.