2D Materials for Environmental Remediation

¹ School of Technology, Woxsen University, 502345 Telangana, India
² Department of Physics, Behali Degree College, 784167 Assam, India
³ School of Physics and Electronics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, P.R. China.
⁴ Centre for Innovation and Inclusive Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida - 201310, India.

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 19 June 2026

Abstract

Recent advancements have witnessed that two-dimensional (2D) materials can be potential materials for the application in environmental remediation due to their unique features such as atomically thin structures, high surface areas, controllable electronic properties, and active sites. The current review sheds light on the different kinds of 2D material families, such as graphene and its oxide derivatives, MXenes, graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C₃N₄), transition metal dichalcogenides, metal chalcogenides, and two-dimensional metal-organic framework derivatives. In addition to their physical and chemical characteristics and their respective methods of pollutant removal, their potential improvement via approaches like heterostructure construction, defect engineering, doping, nanocomposites, and surface modification will be highlighted. Some major applications of such 2D material-based strategies, such as adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, membrane-based separations, and antimicrobial decontamination for the remediation of various types of contaminants, including heavy metals, dyes, pharmaceutical residues, pesticides, and microorganisms, will also be evaluated. Comparative performance assessments will provide insights into understanding the relationship among structure, property, and function. Although there has been a lot of progress made, some obstacles still exist in terms of large-scale synthesis, environmental stability, membrane fouling, and material recovery. Future research should emphasize multifunctional hybrid systems, scalable manufacturing, and AI/ML-driven materials design to accelerate material discovery and optimize remediation performance.