Nanocatalysts and other nanomaterials for water remediation from organic pollutants

Abstract

With the industrial development, population increasing and climate change, water pollution becomes a critical issue around the world. As a result, the remediation of water pollution urgently calls for new advanced technologies. This review specifically deals with nanocatalysts and other nanomaterials for water remediation of organic pollutants. It systematically summarizes the types and structures of organic pollutants, and the classes of nanomaterials and their application for the remediation of organic pollutants in water. Unlike inorganic heavy metals that are of limited types of pollutants, organic molecules are more than millions with various functional groups, properties and applications. The organic contaminants generally contain pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors, pesticides, detergents, organic dyes, and common industrial organic wastes. Nanomaterials used for organic pollutants remediation can be generally classified as inorganic nanomaterials (e.g. transition metal/metal oxide/metal sulfide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials) and organic molecule-based nanomaterials (e.g. metal-organic frameworks, nanomembranes, and organic polymer-based nanomaterials). Oxidation, adsorption, and degradation are the most common strategies employed for nanomaterials remediation of organic pollutants in water. The types of substrate activation modes involve coordination, electron transfer, photo-redox, radical reactions, adsorption, ligand activation, electrostatic, π-π, hydrophobic, acid-base, H-bonding interactions, and van der Waals interactions.