Water contamination and freshwater shortage are calling for advanced technologies of water recycling. High performance of membrane separation has been recently obtained using carbon-based membrane materials such as carbon, carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber membranes, activated carbon and graphene. Properties of carbon materials improve fouling mitigation, hydrophilicity and permeate quality. Here, we review the fabrication of carbon-based membrane materials and applications in water treatment. The major points are: 1) carbon membranes derived from coal and phenolic resins have been widely used in water treatment. Coal-based carbon membranes used as both electrode and membrane filter display high potential owing to their electrical conductivity. 2) Four types of carbon nanotube membranes are presented, with focus on carbon nanotubes that show high separation performance. 3) Carbon fiber membranes show high permeability due to abundant functional groups on the surface. 4) Activated carbon membranes are promising for organic matter removal owing to their high surface area, micro- and macroscopic structure, and various chemical functional groups. (5) Graphene-based membranes with unique laminar pores are very promising.

水污染和淡水短缺正在要求先进的水循环技术。最近，使用碳基膜材料（例如碳，碳纳米管，碳纤维膜，活性炭和石墨烯）可获得高性能的膜分离。碳材料的特性可改善结垢缓解性，亲水性和渗透质量。在这里，我们回顾了碳基膜材料的制造及其在水处理中的应用。要点是：1）源自煤和酚醛树脂的碳膜已广泛用于水处理中。用作电极和膜过滤器的煤基碳膜由于具有导电性而显示出高电势。2）提出了四种类型的碳纳米管膜，重点研究具有高分离性能的碳纳米管。3）碳纤维膜由于表面上有丰富的官能团而显示出高渗透性。4）活性炭膜具有高表面积，微观和宏观结构以及各种化学官能团，因此有望去除有机物。（5）具有独特的层状孔的石墨烯基膜非常有前途。