Functional hybrid bio-based polymers for (waste)water management applications in sustainable precision agriculture

Within the concept of “One Health”, greatest attention has paid to the protection of the environment, earth ecosystems, human well-being and food safety that have all suffered in the last few decades due to common and emergent pollutants. In particular, the heavy metals contamination and their detection and/or remediation is a current research focus area. Starting from a concise overview of recent advances in customized and advantageous nanostructured materials that greatly enhance water purification/detection technologies for addressing the pressing global challenge of water contamination, the interdisciplinary approach of this present work combines materials science, chemistry, and environmental engineering with the aim of designing and developing innovative (multi)functional nanohybrids as useful tool in sustainable precision agriculture. In particular, the research activity is focused on the synthesis of bio-based and eco-friendly materials with specific functional groups that exhibit high affinity for the detection of various contaminants, such as heavy metals and organic pollutants, or chemical-physical parameters. To improve the structural integrity and performance of these systems, novel techniques such as crosslinking and the use of functional nanoparticles have been explored. Furthermore, their stimuli-responsive optical properties have been investigated, underlining their potential in sorption and detection of pollutants for water purification and monitoring with a low environmental impact, thus contributing to an improvement in sustainable water management technology. These materials, engineered at the nanoscale, have specific characteristics, such as a tuneable improvement of sensitivity and selectivity in detecting heavy metal ions, paving the way for innovative advances in optical and sensing applications in real-time water and environmental monitoring. Finally, the design and development of these (multi)functional hybrids nanomaterials have been also assessed by use of secondary raw or bio-based components, either coming from agricultural waste, with a care on their life cycle following the circular economy principles, opening the way to the use of highly efficient products and smart technologies to improve sustainability and innovation in precision agriculture.