Carbon Nanomaterials for Air and Water Remediation

Carbon nanomaterials have demonstrated their potential as adsorbents, self-catalysts, and catalyst supports, to effectively remove pollutants from air and water. These materials possess unique properties, such as inertness, stability in acidic and basic media, and mainly the ability to tune their porosity and surface chemistry. Thus, the hydrophobic nature of carbons allows the interaction with nonpolar pollutants, but the creation of heteroatom and chemical functionalities of the carbon surface improves their affinity to polar pollutants. Furthermore, thermal/activation methods are applied to tailor the porosity and surface area. This book chapter provides an overview on the properties and performance of carbon nanomaterials for air and water remediation. A special attention is given to the removal of typical pollutants from air (e.g., CO2, NOx, SOx, and volatile organic compounds). The use of nanostructured carbons, alone or combined with metal oxides, is also reviewed for water remediation using advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) with special emphasis on photocatalysis, although other AOPs such as ozonation, catalytic wet air or peroxide oxidation, and Fenton-based processes over mostly graphene-based materials are also addressed.