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Toxic metals and organic pollutants have become serious environment issues because these contaminants can cause indelible damage to human health and aquatic organism. Various materials have shown great potential in removing conventional contaminants and purifying water. Among them, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been regarded as promising candidates in the purification of water environments, owing to their distinct physical/chemical properties, but the connection between properties of CNFs and their removal performance receives few attentions. In this systematic review, we summarize the recent processes in synthetic strategies of CNFs, and highlight their water environmental applications via multiple interactions (π-π interaction, electrostatic interaction, and surface complexation). Some challenges and future outlooks of CNFs materials are briefly discussed. The content presented here will provide a helpful reference value for promoting the development of CNF-based nanomaterials and comprehend the significance of purifying water environments and protecting nature from pollutants. [Display omitted] • Abundant functional groups of carbon nanofibers promote water purification. • Surface modification and composite materials improve the removal performance. • Metal ions are removed via electrostatic interaction and surface complexation. • Organic contaminants are eliminated by π-π interaction and hydrophobic interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI), which has great potential in environmental purification is introduced. However, NZVI is easy to accumulate and oxidize, which limits its ability to remove pollutants. Hence several modified NZVI are proposed to overcome its shortcomings in this paper. The heavy metal ions, radionuclides and organic pollutants in the environment are removal by NZVI based materials, and their removal behaviors had been analyzed. This paper also reviews the factors affecting the removal of pollutants by NZVI-based materials, such as pH, ionic strength, contact time, reaction temperature, interfering ions and humic acids. In addition, it is also introduced that NZVI is toxic in the environment, and it also can be recovered and has different removal effects in different water environment. In short, this paper gives a comprehensive summary of NZVI, including its modification methods, pollutants removal, influencing factors of pollutants removal and implication to environment. It provides a strong theoretical basis for the future development of NZVI based materials. [Display omitted] • The characteristics of NZVI-based materials are briefly introduced and summarized. • The removal mechanisms of different pollutants are highlighted. • The influence factors and environmental implications are analyzed. • Future researches of NZVI-based materials in water remediation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]