Past, present and future global influence and technological applications of iron-bearing metastable nanominerals Caraballo, Manuel A. Asta Andrés, María Pilar Ferrihydrite Schwertmannite Green rust Nanotechnology Nanogeosciences Iron-bearing nanominerals such as ferrihydrite, schwertmannite, and green rust behave as metastable precursors leading to the formation of more thermodynamically stable iron mineral phases (e.g., jarosite, goethite, hematite, and magnetite). However, this transformation may last from days to tens or even hundreds of years, making them the most predominant iron-bearing minerals at environmental conditions and at the human time scale. The present review characterizes ferrihydrite, schwertmannite, and green rust nanominerals according to their main physical and chemical properties, and at both nano- and mesoscales. It also presents a comprehensive review of the multiple past and present Earth environments where these nanominerals have played, and still play, a pivotal role in the geochemistry, mineralogy and environmental nanogeosciences of these environments. Finally, the present and future technological applications of these nanominerals as well as their role in the generation of a more sustainable human- Earth relationship is discussed, with a special emphasis on their use in new circular economies and green based technologies. 2022-10-27T11:59:01Z 2022-10-27T11:59:01Z 2021-12-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Manuel A. Caraballo, Maria P. Asta, Jeffrey Paulo H. Perez, Michael F. Hochella, Past, present and future global influence and technological applications of iron-bearing metastable nanominerals, Gondwana Research, Volume 110, 2022, Pages 283-304, ISSN 1342-937X, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2021.11.009] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/77604 10.1016/j.gr.2021.11.009 eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/026496 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional Elsevier