A mini-review on bioderived carbon and its nanocomposites for removal of organic pollutants from wastewater
Introduction
Development in industrialization and growing urbanization leads to increasing pollution to an alarming rate with increased population rate globally. The natural and clean water scarcity due to the industrialization, the world faces the shortage of clean water in the developing countries. Common contaminants are organic, microbes, dyes, bacteria, virus, and heavy metals. Nanomaterials plays a vital role in purification of these contaminated water with the help of high surface area, Nano sorbent capacity, chemical modification and easier regeneration [1]. Carbon based nanomaterials such as graphene; carbon nanotubes, activated carbons, and graphene oxide are very much reliable and enormously used according to their chemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical characteristics nature in the application of water purification, energy storage, sensors, drug delivery, diagnosis, electronics etc. Not many studies were reported on synthesis of carbon-based nanocomposites for removal of organic pollutants from wastewater. This mini-review exclusively highlights the biomass derived carbon nanocomposites synthesis and its specific applications on removal of organic compounds from wastewater.
Section snippets
Toxicity of organic pollutants
Many pollutants (dyes, polychlorinated compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and other chemicals) are released by leather, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, textile, and paper industries [2]. However, because of a lack of effective detection technologies, there is still a lack of understanding about the chemical composition of industrial discharges and those existing in the environment [3]. Using Salmonella typhimurium, three mutagenic chemicals were discovered in
Chitosan
Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide biopolymer made up of 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose structural units linked together by 1,4-glycosidic linkage. Chitin is mostly found in the shells of crab and shrimp. However, chitin's low solubility restricts its use on a wide scale [6]. Chitosan is made by deacetylating and depolymerizing chitin in a 40–50% aqueous alkali solution for 1–3 hat 100–160 °C. Chitosan is an environmentally friendly that is biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic for
Carbon nanocomposite’s synthesis
In wastewater treatment, nanotubes, Nano membranes have gained attention due to their ability in the removal of contaminants from the wastewater [15]. Nanomaterials greater than 1 nm and less than 100 nm has free surfaces and either strong or weak interactions between each Nano unit. Due to this structure, the nanomaterials have unique interactions like small size effects, quantum effects, surface effects and the interfacial effects. Carbon nanomaterials acts as a carrier catalyst and can be
Application of carbon nanocomposites
CNCs (Carbon based nanocomposites) have recently gained special attention for pollutant removal (Fig. 2) because of their biocompatibility, physicochemical characteristics and infinite functionalization potential. The removal of pollutants with CNCs is primarily accomplished by adsorption and photo catalysis. Activated carbon (AC) is another form of carbon that has been used in the production of NCs and their use in various applications in the environment for the removal of pollutants [20].
Conclusion and future directions
From this mini-review, it was clear that biomass derived carbon materials serve as valuable reserve for making of nanocomposites for effective removal of pollutants from aqueous medium. Hindrance in commercialization of carbon-based nanocomposites in wastewater treatment need to be addressed. Future studies are needed for simultaneous removal of targeted pollutants using different forms of nanocomposites in a most sustainable and economical way paving way for circular economy.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
Authors wish to thank freepik for source of diagram and Sathyabama institute of science and technology for the support.
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