Application of graphene for decontamination of water; Implications for sorptive removal

Graphene has shown to be a promising material for many different fields due to its unique structure with exceptional physicochemical characteristics and capacities. It has been widely used for water treatment as an adsorbent for heavy metal/loids and organic contaminants. Many studies have focused their attention on producing different graphene based nano materials such as graphene/metal nano particle composites, modified graphene, graphene-complex oxide composites and graphene/semiconductor hybrids along with improved performance and inherent qualities of graphene for contaminant removal in water. Its outstanding ability for excellent immobilization of various contaminants such as organic dyes; methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), rhodamine, inorganic pollutants such as chromium, arsenic, uranium, mercury, fluoride, antimony, zinc, lead and copper are due to the high surface area and functional groups of graphene. Simultaneous removal of organic and inorganic contaminants with desorption studies have proved favorability of graphene as an adsorbent with reusability. In this review, an attempt has been made to assess recent developments of graphene's capacity to decontaminate wastewater and to explain the mechanisms of adsorption towards the future scope.