Applicability of Clay/Organic Clay to Environmental Pollutants: Green Way—An Overview

Natural clay mineral and its modifier called modified clay have been used in many environmental applications for a number of years. However, they are not capable enough to achieve a higher conversion rate and so-called ecological sustainability. This can be due to a lack of understanding of the selectivity of the clay and its modifier or a lack of compatibility between clay and pollutants. Recently, the development and implementation of green principles into practice have become an emerging field that brings together green chemistry and engineering practices to achieve a pollutant-free environment (air, water, and soil). This review summarizes the role of clay/modified clay in pollution control and discusses the role of green chemistry in creating global sustainability. In this context, this review sheds light on the complete classification of the clay family to identify its properties and to critically examine the applicability of clay and modified clay for air, water, and soil pollution control over the past decade. This is the unique point of this review, showing how the properties of clay/modified clay can be useful for removing any type of pollutant without focusing on a single type of pollutant or clay. Furthermore, the importance of green materials in clay research, as well as the future area of application, was discussed. Overall, this review places value on multidisciplinary researchers to determine the role of the green pathway in the application of clay and modified clay in achieving environmental sustainability.