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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a crucial kind of pollutants in the environment due to their obvious features of severe toxicity, high volatility, and poor degradability. It is particularly urgent to control the emission of VOCs due to the persistent increase of concentration and the stringent regulations. In China, clear directions and requirements for reduction of VOCs have been given in the "national plan on environmental improvement for the 13th Five-Year Plan period". Therefore, the development of efficient technologies for removal and recovery of VOCs is of great significance. Recovery technologies are favored by researchers due to their advantages in both recycling VOCs and reducing carbon emissions. Among them, adsorption and membrane separation processes have been extensively studied due to their remarkable industrial prospects. This overview was to provide an up-to-date progress of adsorption and membrane separation for removal and recovery of VOCs. Firstly, adsorption and membrane separation were found to be the research hotspots through bibliometric analysis. Then, a comprehensive understanding of their mechanisms, factors, and current application statuses was discussed. Finally, the challenges and perspectives in this emerging field were briefly highlighted. [Display omitted]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon aerogels are a fascinating three‐dimensional (3D) monolithic porous material with remarkable physicochemical properties, including low density, large surface area, abundant pore structure, high electrical conductivity, chemical stability, environmental compatibility, adjustable surface chemistry, as well as controllable structural features. These properties endow carbon aerogels with excellent adsorption and catalytic performance. Therefore, they are widely applied in environmental chemistry for removing pollutants like oils, toxic organic solvents, dyes, heavy metal ions in aquatic environments, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon oxides (CO2, CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the atmosphere. In this paper, the preparation processes of carbon aerogels are fully reviewed, and their applications for environmental clean‐up based on adsorption and catalytic action are thoroughly addressed. In each section, the most recent representative studies will be highlighted. Finally, the challenges, outlooks, and prospects in this emerging and promising research field will be briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]