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.

摘要

近年来，分级多孔碳 (HPC) 材料在能量存储、吸附和催化方面得到了广泛的应用。HPC 可以由范围广泛的廉价碳前体合成，并包含独特的结构特征，如纳米级尺寸、高孔隙率、高表面积和可调孔表面。这些材料具有去除水和废水中污染物的巨大潜力。然而，该地区尚未得到严重的勘探。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 HPC 在去除水中污染物方面的合成、改性和应用的最新进展，尤其是有机污染物。由于其固有的疏水性和独特的互连多孔结构，HPC 对疏水性有机污染物表现出高亲和力，这可以通过目标特异性化学活化增强许多倍。通过原始和改性 HPC 成功高效去除污染物，包括塑料衍生（例如双酚 A）、药物（例如抗生素）、染料（例如亚甲蓝）和农药微污染物。未来的研究有必要找到最佳和有效的 HPC 合成和改性方法，以进一步提高它们去除水性有机污染物的能力，作为一种低成本和低能耗的修复技术。