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Nanostructured Aerogels for Water Decontamination: Advances, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Summary

Aerogels are ultra-light, ultra-porous materials made mostly of air that can effectively remove toxic pollutants from contaminated water. These materials can absorb heavy metals, oil spills, dyes, and pesticides from water, offering a promising solution to global water contamination problems. Scientists are developing new types of aerogels using sustainable methods to make them more practical and affordable for large-scale water treatment applications in communities worldwide.

Background

Water contamination with toxic pollutants such as heavy metals, oil spills, organic and inorganic dyes, and pesticides causes severe environmental and human health problems. Aerogels are ultra-porous nanomaterials with unique properties including very low density, high surface area, and large porous structures, making them promising adsorbents for water decontamination.

Objective

This review critically evaluates recent advancements in aerogel-based materials for water decontamination, highlighting their properties, challenges, and practical applications. The review examines different types of aerogels (silica, carbon-based, biopolymer, and hybrid) and discusses key parameters affecting adsorption performance including pH, ionic strength, and temperature.

Results

Various aerogel types demonstrate significant pollutant removal capacities: amidoxime-functionalized silica aerogels achieved 598.05 mg/g for Pb(II); 3D polyaniline/cellulose nanofiber aerogel reached 1369.1 mg/g for methylene blue; and 3D graphene/δ-MnO₂ aerogels showed 643.62 mg/g for Pb²⁺. Hybrid aerogels with photocatalytic properties showed >97% removal of organic dyes under UV irradiation.

Conclusion

Aerogel-based materials show significant promise for water decontamination with superior adsorption capacities and reusability. Future research should focus on developing advanced aerogels using green and sustainable synthesis methods, optimizing large-scale production, and conducting more pilot studies and field trials to enable full-scale industrial application of these materials.
  • Published in:Nanomaterials (Basel),
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.3390/nano15120901, PMID: 40559264
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