Preparation and Modification of New Functional Materials for Organic Pollutant Elimination

Pollution is one of the big issues that modern society must face and, nowadays, water remediation represents a complex challenge due to the presence of a large variety of pollutants. For instance, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, pharmaceuticals, or other biologically active compounds, and microplastics are recognized as new emerging pollutants. Struggling to find solutions for this problem, researchers have designed several advanced materials paying attention to the biocompatibility of the new materials. Organic materials such as biomass derived polymers, metal and covalent organic frameworks, carbon nanomaterials (graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes) and hybrid materials have been recently synthesized or properly functionalized for pollutant removal. An overview on recent advances that took place in the last five years on the development of new hybrid or organic materials for pollutant removal is reported here. Synthetic strategies applied to obtain these materials as well as a description of the features of the materials that affect their efficiency in the removal process are discussed.