A Review of the Performance of Carbon Nanotubes in Reducing Environmental Pollution

Introduction: In recent times, one of the most important purposes of sustainable development has been defined as the protection of environmental health. Using appropriate and innovative infrastructures such as nanotechnology is a solution to walk along the path of sustainable development and solves many environmental problems. The purpose of this study is to review the application of carbon nanotubes in the removal of environmental pollutants, based on conducted studies. Materials and Methods: All scientific data related to the issue were collected from scientific databases of Google Scholar, Scopus, Elsevier, and SID to evaluate and conduct the study. Keywords such as carbon nanotubes, environmental pollutant, sustainable development, and environmental health were used. 85 articles were also used in this review research (1993–2016). Results: Based on the evaluated studies, the results indicated that common methods of sewage treatment are not enough to remove the mentioned environmental pollutants completely. In the mentioned methods, despite high decomposition, the amount of mineralization has been reduced and the toxicity of wastewaters has remained unchanged or has increased. Adsorption has been propounded due to its simplicity and lower energy consumption compared with other methods. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are unique one-dimensional macromolecules which have high thermal resistance and chemical stability. Adsorption through CNT as the adsorbent in the treatment of drinking water and sewage polluted with pharmaceutical, petroleum, heavy metal, and leachate pollutants has been studied widely. Conclusion: This study indicated CNT as effective adsorbents that have high potential to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.