The Development of Natural Adsorbents in the Context of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality

Under the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, developing green and low-carbon technologies for pollutant control is of crucial importance. Natural adsorbents, with their advantages of wide availability, renewability, environmental friendliness, and low cost, demonstrate significant potential in the context of the dual carbon targets. This paper systematically examines the demand for adsorption technologies driven by the dual carbon strategy, analyzes the core advantages of natural adsorbents (such as biochar, clay minerals, and natural polymers), and focuses on elaborating the design strategies for natural adsorbents oriented toward efficient carbon capture and synergistic pollutant removal (including raw material selection and pretreatment, pore structure regulation, surface functional group modification, and composite preparation and modification). Additionally, it reviews the progress of their applications in fields such as atmospheric CO2 capture, removal of heavy metals/organic substances from water bodies, and soil remediation. Finally, in response to the challenges in the large-scale application of natural adsorbents, future development directions are proposed.