Recent advances of 3D graphene-based adsorbents for sample preparation of water pollutants: A review

Abstract

• Synthesis methods of 3D graphene were introduced. • Types of 3D graphene-based adsorbents were summarized. • 3D graphene-based adsorbents for removal of water pollutants were discussed. • Trends of 3D graphene-based adsorbents in sample preparation were outlooked. Recently, the researches about graphene-materials as efficient adsorbents have been promoted from two-dimension (2D) to three-dimension (3D). Compared with 2D graphene-materials, 3D graphene-based macrostructures not only preserve the original properties of constituent monomers, but also possess new collective physiochemical properties, making them more attractive as versatile adsorbents in sample preparation. In this review, we will innovatively summarize the recently published various kinds of 3D graphene-based adsorbents from the angles of material type (including pure 3D graphene and decorated with different materials: atom/molecule, inorganic-nanomaterials, polymers, carbon-nanomaterials and hybrid-composite-materials). Furthermore, we will discuss their applications for removing of various water pollutants (oils and organic solvents, dyes, metal ions, drugs, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and others). At last, the challenges and future outlook of 3D graphene-based adsorbents will also be discussed.