Recent Progress of Natural Mineral Materials in Environmental Remediation

Abstract

Organic contaminants, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals have posed long-term threats to the ecosystem and human health. Natural minerals have aroused widespread interest in the field of environmental remediation due to their unique characteristics such as rich resources, environmentally benign, and excellent photoelectric properties. This review briefly introduced the contributions of natural minerals such as sulfide minerals, oxide minerals, and oxysalt minerals in pollution control, which include organic pollution degradation, sterilization, air purification (NO VOCs oxidation), and heavy metal treatment by means of photocatalysis, Fenton catalysis, persulfate activation, and adsorption process. At last, the future challenges of natural mineral materials in pollution control are also outlooked.