Recent advances of nanotechnology in ameliorating bioenergy production: A comprehensive review

Bioenergy market has thoroughly enjoyed a positive outlook towards overpowering traditional energy sources to meet the continuous demands across the globe. According to a forecast by International Energy Agency (IEA), worldwide biofuel consumption is projected to rise by 20% from 2022 to 2027. Both advanced and emerging economies have accounted for 80% of biofuel consumption growth and are aiming to increase the use of indigenous feedstocks to expand biofuel production. There is an abundant supply of feedstock, however, their conversion to biofuel using conventional processes is a challenging task. This has made its conversion practically unfeasible, leading to the growing importance to innovate advanced and cutting-edge technologies for enhancing biofuel production and innovating cost-effective and bioprocess optimized methods. Nanoparticles owing to their small size, high surface area, and high penetrating power have proven to be a promising alternative for optimizing and enhancing biomass conversion. They are mainly employed for enzyme immobilization, development of pre-treatment and catalytic technologies for biofuel production. The plethora of emerging techniques and applications of nanostructured materials such as carbon-based nanomaterials, metal-based nanomaterials, magnetic nanoparticles, metal organic frameworks, and others, is a possible avenue for the establishment of novel, competent and economical approaches for biofuels generation. In this review, a critical survey on the different categories of nanomaterials and their ameliorating role on biofuel production have been carried out.