Biocarbon for sustainable water purification

Abstract

Global environmental challenges including environmental pollution, water scarcity, and climate change are negatively impact the standard of living for humans on the Earth. Research and development in the field of water treatment paved the way for the utilization of sustainable materials for water purification, and the currently available innovative technologies are capable to purify water as per the standards put forward by World Health Organization. However, the cost of such technologies is very high, making them unaffordable for the global population. Environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials are of high demand for water purification. In this context, biocarbon is a suitable material, which exhibits peculiar properties such as low cost, natural abundance, eco-friendliness, and easy processability. As per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, the SDG 6 deals with clean water and sanitation. Purifying the contaminated water resources using biocarbon has gained great interest in the recent past as a suitable solution to meet the global freshwater requirement. A review report in the field of biocarbon-based water purification is lacking in the literature, which has motivated us to write a review on biocarbon-based sustainable water purification. We discuss the synthesis, properties, and water remediation measures of eco-friendly biocarbon and biocarbon-based materials. This review opens up a new paradigm shift in water purification technologies, which are sustainable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective compared with the currently available technologies.