Engineered/designer hierarchical porous carbon materials for organic pollutant removal from water and wastewater: A critical review

Abstract

Hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) materials have found advanced applications in energy storage, adsorption, and catalysis in recent years. The HPC can be synthesized from a vast range of inexpensive carbon precursors, and contain unique structural features, such as nano-scale dimension, high porosity, high surface area, and tunable pore surfaces. These materials hold immense potential for removing contaminants from water and wastewater. However, this area is severely under-explored yet. In this review, we have discussed the recent advances of synthesis, modification, and application of HPC for the removal of pollutants from water, especially focusing on organic pollutants. Owing to their intrinsic hydrophobic nature and unique interconnected porous structure, HPC demonstrates a high affinity to hydrophobic organic contaminants, which can be enhanced many folds by target-specific chemical activation. Successful high-performance removal of contaminants by pristine and modified HPC includes plastic-derived (e.g. bisphenol A), pharmaceutical (e.g. antibiotics), dye (e.g. methylene blue) and pesticide micro-pollutants. Future research is warranted to find optimal and effective HPC synthesis and modification methods for further improving their ability to remove aqueous organic contaminants as a low-cost and energy-inexpensive remediation technology.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Green and sustainable remediation
• clean water and sanitation
• electrode material

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Hydrogen Energy Innovation Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korean government (Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT)) (No. NRF-2019M3E6A1064197), (Germany-Korea Partnership Program (GEnKO Program) 2018–2020). The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundations of China (21677137), “National Science and Technology Major Projects for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (Grant No. 2017ZX07201004)”, and “Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2019FZJD007)”.

Notes on contributors

Mengxue Zhang

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Avanthi Deshani Igalavithana

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Liheng Xu

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Binoy Sarkar

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Deyi Hou

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Ming Zhang

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Amit Bhatnagar

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Won Chul Cho

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.

Yong Sik Ok

Y.S.O and M.Z. conceived the project and designed the study. M.Z. and A.D.I. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. L.X., B.S., D.H., W.C.C., and A.B. revised and improved the manuscript. The manuscript contains contributions from all authors.