Smart responsive materials for water purification: an overview

The present era is represented by the use of smart and intelligent materials in almost all spheres of life. The field of water treatment is not an exception to this. This extremely important and crucial research area has been witnessing increased involvement of stimuli-responsive smart materials in the removal of contaminating pollutants hampering the quality of water available for use in our daily life. In fact, the problem of water pollution is one of the most critical issues that the world is encountering currently. In this regard, stimuli-responsive smart materials (mainly adsorbents and filtration membranes) hold extreme promise in providing a solution to this practically persistent concern. These materials exhibit tuneable properties depending on the state of the involved stimulus/stimuli. This has in turn provided enhanced controllability of the process of contaminant removal. This review will report on the utilization of these smart materials in the form of adsorbents and filtration membranes in water treatment applications, and will discuss the various unique attributes that these materials possess.