Recent Design Principles and Construction Strategies of Polyaniline-Based Composites: Toward Electrochemical and Non-Electrochemical Adsorption Applications

Presently, with rapid industrialization progressing, massive toxic pollutants have been discharged into nature, causing serious threats to ecosystems and human health. Thus, exploiting advanced functional materials for mitigating environmental challenges is vital. Among them, polyaniline (PANI)-based composites have gained great research attention because of their excellent mass-charge transfer ability, tunable morphology, rich N-containing functional groups, and high structural tunability. Herein, this review systematically summarizes the design principles, composite construction strategies, and adsorption applications of PANI-based composites. Key design principles, including micro-support skeleton construction, conductive skeleton introduction, and selective active site anchoring, are proposed. These principles aim to address defects of single components and realize the improvement of the properties, selectivity, and stability of PANI-based composites. Subsequently, multiple advanced PANI-based composites are further analyzed. Eventually, their applications in electrochemical (e.g., electrosorption) and non-electrochemical adsorption (e.g., typical adsorption) are comprehensively assessed. Overall, this review seeks to deliver valuable insights into the in-depth study of advanced PANI-based composites for effective pollutant remediation.