Volatile organic compounds (Vocs) as environmental pollutants: Occurrence and mitigation using nanomaterials

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprise various organic chemicals which are re-leased as gases from different liquids or solids. The nature and impact of the health effects are de-pendent on the VOCs concentrations and, also, on the exposure time. VOCs are present in different household, industrial or commercial and products, but their accumulation in air and water has pri-marily gained attention. Among VOCs, trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride are the most toxic and carcinogenic compounds. In order to improve the indoor air and water quality, VOCs can be re-moved via efficient approaches involving nanomaterials, by using techniques such as adsorption, catalysis or photocatalysis. In the recent years, the development of manufacturing procedures, char-acterization techniques and testing processes has resulted in the growth of nanomaterials obtaining and applications, creating great possibilities and also a tremendous provocation in applying them for highly efficient VOCs removal. This review is intended to contribute to the improvement of awareness and knowledge on the great potential that nanomaterials have in VOCs removal, in order a to improve indoor and outdoor environment, but also the worldwide water sources.