Carbon Nanomaterials for Adsorption and Desorption of Pesticides

Pesticides represent a major class of water contaminants that are released in huge amounts to water bodies through agricultural activities. The accumulation of pesticides in soil and water causes severe health problems including endocrine disruption, damage of the kidney, liver, and other body organs, reproductive problems, and cancer. It is crucial to remove pesticides from the environment to protect biodiversity and reduce their hazardous effect on human beings. Adsorption is the most simple, practical, economical, feasible, and efficient method to remove pesticides from the environment. Carbon-based nanomaterials are gaining an increasing upsurge of interest as effective adsorbent materials due to their high surface area, biocompatibility, thermal stability, and high adsorption efficiency. The application of various carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, chitosan, and cellulose has been demonstrated in this chapter for the development of efficient adsorbent material/membrane for the removal of all types of pesticides present in water. The regeneration of these materials can be performed through the desorption of pesticides and several recycling runs have been reported using these materials under mild conditions.