An introduction of heavy metals through anthropogenic activity into water streams polluting the environment. The effective requirement for removal of heavy metal from wastewater and utilize the treated water for managing the water scarcity among population over the world. The studies on carbon-based nano-materials and its utility in heavy metal removal are improving incredible attraction over the past decades. Carbonaceous nanomaterials exhibit the distinctive properties of hybridized carbon bonds with extraordinary physical–chemical properties at a nano-scale. The special attention focused on different nanomaterials such as graphene-oxide and, carbon nano-tubes. This present study reviews the utilization of nanomaterial composites in the adsorption of heavy metals in the wastewater purification. Further the innovation, forthcoming development, challenges of cost-effective and environmentally acceptable nanomaterials and its interaction between adsorbents for water purification are discussed and reviewed in this article. This review concluded that nanomaterials have many unique morphological and structural properties that qualify to be as effective absorbents to solve several application environmental purifications.