Water pollution is a growing issue which requires various treatment technologies for efficient and effective remediation. Adsorption is one of the dominant wastewater treatment technologies due to its flexible operation and cost effectiveness. Recently, a new class of adsorbents with multiple functionalities has appeared. They are capable of removing various pollutants, and they possess additional functions such as photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. These new types of advanced materials could significantly enhance treatment efficiency and potentially reduce the footprint of wastewater treatment plants. This review presents a detailed discussion of the studies of multifunctional adsorbents, covering the modification and functionalization to incorporate multifunctional properties on the adsorbents and exploring the interplay between various groups of pollutants and adsorbents that affect the pollutants removal efficiency. The multifunctional adsorbents discussed are in four classes: carbon-based, carbon nanomaterial-based, polymer-based, and inorganic-based. Additional functionalities, especially antibacterial and photocatalytic properties, are generally incorporated onto the adsorbents to provide mutual and superimposed benefits that could be advantageous for subsequent treatment processes. Though the performance of multifunctional adsorbents is quite promising, the lack of an in-depth techno-economic feasibility study has hindered upscaling application studies. Future studies in this aspect should clarify the uncertainties and fully materialize the benefits of multifunctional adsorbents in wastewater treatment.

水污染是一个日益严重的问题，需要各种处理技术来有效地进行补救。由于吸附操作灵活且具有成本效益，因此吸附是主要的废水处理技术之一。最近，出现了一类具有多种功能的吸附剂。它们能够去除各种污染物，并且具有其他功能，例如光催化和抗菌性能。这些新型的先进材料可以显着提高处理效率，并有可能减少废水处理厂的占地面积。这篇评论对多功能吸附剂的研究进行了详细讨论，涵盖修饰和功能化以在吸附剂上包含多功能特性，并探索影响污染物去除效率的各组污染物和吸附剂之间的相互作用。讨论的多功能吸附剂分为四类：碳基，碳纳米材料基，聚合物基和无机基。通常将附加的功能，特别是抗菌和光催化性能结合到吸附剂上，以提供相互和叠加的益处，这对于随后的处理过程可能是有利的。尽管多功能吸附剂的性能是很有希望的，但是缺乏深入的技术经济可行性研究阻碍了应用研究的规模化。