Croitoru Alexa-Maria, Niculescu Adelina-Gabriela, Bîrcă Alexandra Cătălina, Mihaiescu Dan Eduard, Rădulescu Marius, Grumezescu Alexandru Mihai
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Gh. Polizu St. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
National Centre for Food Safety, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Spl. Independentei 313, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2025 Jun 11;15(12):901. doi: 10.3390/nano15120901.
Water contamination with toxic pollutants such as heavy metals, oil spills, organic and inorganic dyes, pesticides, etc., causes severe environmental and human health pollution. Aerogels have gained increasing attention in recent years as promising adsorbents due to their outstanding properties. This paper critically evaluates the recent advancements in aerogel-based materials, highlighting their challenges, limitations, and practical applications in large-scale experiments. The influence of key parameters such as adsorbent dosage, solution pH, ionic strength, and temperature is also discussed. Integrating nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing methods, a new generation of high-performance adsorbents with increased sorption capacity and reusability could be developed. Additionally, pilot studies and field trials are highlighted in this review, showing aerogels' practical and real-world applications. Although various gaps in the production process that limit aerogel implementation in the market still exist, the research progress in the field shows that novel aerogels could be used in real wastewater treatment in the future. This review underscores the need for future research to develop advanced aerogel-based materials using green and sustainable synthesis methods that can lead to full-scale application.
重金属、石油泄漏、有机和无机染料、农药等有毒污染物造成的水污染会导致严重的环境和人类健康污染。近年来，气凝胶因其出色的性能作为有前景的吸附剂而受到越来越多的关注。本文批判性地评估了气凝胶基材料的最新进展，强调了它们在大规模实验中的挑战、局限性和实际应用。还讨论了吸附剂用量、溶液pH值、离子强度和温度等关键参数的影响。通过整合纳米技术和先进制造方法，可以开发出具有更高吸附容量和可重复使用性的新一代高性能吸附剂。此外，本综述突出了中试研究和现场试验，展示了气凝胶的实际和现实世界应用。尽管生产过程中仍存在各种限制气凝胶在市场上应用的差距，但该领域的研究进展表明，新型气凝胶未来可用于实际废水处理。本综述强调了未来研究的必要性，即使用绿色和可持续的合成方法开发先进的气凝胶基材料，以实现全面应用。
