Regresar

Aerogels for Contaminant Removal from Water

Abstract:

The continuous deterioration of water quality and the increasing pressures on water resources can have serious effects on social development, human health and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate strategies and develop technologies for responsible management of water resources. In this effort, during the last few years, a wide variety of materials have been synthesized and tested for removing contaminants from water. In this work, we discuss the fundamental characteristics and properties of aerogels that have been used for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants, including heavy metals, emerging contaminants and dyes. The raw materials, synthesis processes, characteristic structural features, and the main applications of silica, clay, carbon, graphene and polysaccharide-based aerogels are presented. These materials exhibit a large specific surface and have a tuneable porous structure that can make them highly effective adsorbents, which can also be easily removed from the media in which they are applied. Different types of aerogel composites are also discussed, emphasizing some of the advantages obtained by combining materials with different strengths. The adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of several aerogels used to remove pollutants by adsorption and photocatalytic degradation is presented. Finally, we provide an outlook to the research required to understand the behavior of aerogels and tailor their structure and behavior aiming at improving their performance. One of the objectives of the work envisioned is the formulation of materials with desirable characteristics such as high removal ability, environmentally friendly nature and processing, low-cost, and recyclability, among others.