At high environmental concentration, some heavy metals display adverse health effects on living organisms and ecosystems. They bioaccumulate in the food chain and end up in wastewater, calling for advanced techniques of remediation. Here, we review recently developed nanomaterials used to remove heavy metals in wastewater, with focus on synthesis, removal mechanisms and kinetics. Nanomaterial-based adsorbents include zero-valent, carbon-based nanomaterials and nanocomposites. Nanomaterial synthesis is done by co-precipitation, sol–gel, spinning, chemical vapour deposition, pyrolysis and sputtering. Removal mechanisms include chemical precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange, coagulation and membrane filtration. We discuss factors controlling the adsorption processes, such as pH, temperature, contact period and dosage.

在高浓度的环境中，某些重金属对生物体和生态系统产生不利的健康影响。它们在食物链中生物富集，最终产生废水，因此需要先进的补救技术。在这里，我们回顾了最近开发的用于去除废水中重金属的纳米材料，重点是合成，去除机理和动力学。基于纳米材料的吸附剂包括零价，基于碳的纳米材料和纳米复合材料。纳米材料的合成是通过共沉淀，溶胶-凝胶，纺丝，化学气相沉积，热解和溅射完成的。去除机理包括化学沉淀，吸附，离子交换，凝结和膜过滤。我们讨论控制吸附过程的因素，例如pH，温度，接触时间和剂量。