Revolutionizing Environmental Monitoring: Cutting-Edge Biosensing with Nanomaterials

Industrialization and urbanization have caused an increase in pollution and environmental degradation which mitigates ecological and human health. Existing monitoring methodologies lack the sensitivity, speed, and affordability that are necessary, meaning they will need to be abandoned or supplemented with novel methodologies. Nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties that are advantageous for many facets of biosensing for environmental purposes such as surface area, conductivity, and platform flexibility. We provide a synthesis of nanomaterials that include enhanced biosensor methodologies for contaminant detection in air, water, and soil including heavy metals, pesticides, organic pollutants, and pathogens. These biosensors, with different biorecognition elements, include nanomaterials alone, as well as graphene and carbon nanotubes, metal nanoparticles (Au, Ag, etc.), quantum dots, and Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs). The bio-recognition elements included enzymes, antibodies, and aptamers. The combination of biorecognition elements with nanomaterials produced detection limits commonly in the nanomolar or picomolar range and allowed for field, real-time monitoring. The discussion provides clarity to the findings with a discussion of their advancement and contribution to sustainable management, addressing issues such as selectivity in complex matrices, scale-up for practical implementation and/or commercialisation in practice, etc. Potential future directions of the work in this article might include the synthesis of nanomaterials using an environmentally friendly means such as green chemistry, and with the potential merging of biosensors with IoTs to make smart monitoring systems. A wide array of nano-based biosensors will provide enormous and transformative potential towards safeguarding environmental quality and human health.