Toxicological impact and adsorptive removal of triclosan from water bodies using chitosan and carbon-based nano-architectures

Triclosan, a synthetic and non-ionic bacteriostatic agent, exhibits long-term persistence in the environment and water/wastewater bodies and can induce acute cytotoxicity problems in human beings and other organisms. Therefore, it is of paramount significance to introduce new approaches for effective and specific elimination of triclosan from the contaminated environments and minimizing its threatening effects in a green, cost-efficient, and eco-responsive manner. Many methods have been attempted in the last few years for the removal of triclosan, including adsorption, biodegradation, photolysis, and advanced oxidation. Recently, carbon-based nano-architectures have gained incredible interest as inspiring solid adsorbents to mitigate toxic environmental pollutants in water and air matrices due to their excellent characteristics such as substantial surface area, maximum adsorption capacity, tailorable pore sizes, structural versatility, recyclability, and exposed catalytic regions. The mechanism involving adsorptive removals of organic contaminants using carbon-based nano-architectures follows electrostatic, acid-base, non-covalent, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. This review presents the contemporary progress and exploration of carbon-based nano-architectures for the adsorptive removal of triclosan from aqueous environment. Rapid research progress in this arena manifests the significance of carbon-based nano-architectures in environmental stewardship and opens up new horizons to emerge as a robust futuristic treatment option for the effective removal of various emerging contaminants from environmental matrices.