Adsorption performance of graphitic carbon nitride-based materials: Current state of the art

Abstract Graphitic carbon nitride and its derivatives attract the attention of current materials science due to a wide range of prospective applications in environmental protection. The material is synthesized by the thermal polycondensation of simple nitrogen-containing chemicals. The process is performed via annealing, solvothermal treatment, or combustion processes. Nowadays, the vast majority of papers deal with the photocatalytic performance of these materials. In the past few decades, some research groups explored the possibility of wastewater treatment by the batch adsorption process onto graphitic carbon nitride-based materials. The adsorption activity is enhanced by several methods, including the formation of porosity by soft and hard templates, construction of functional composites, or chemical functionalization. The presented review describes the current state of the art, dealing with adsorption phenomena, which occur onto graphitic carbon nitride-based materials. The development of this kind of research results in the need to summarize the last reports on this topic.