Unavoidably, the expansion of industry causes the release of numerous heavy metals, radionuclides, and organic pollutants into the environment. Due to these pollutants, the extremely toxic, highly carcinogenic chemicals provide a serious risk to people and aquatic life. Wastewater pollutants must be removed to safeguard the ecology. A huge specific surface area, multiple binding sites, a plethora of functional groups, variable pore size, and simplicity of surface modification are just a few advantages of porous materials. They are considered viable candidate materials for the efficient and selective removal of contaminants from aqueous solutions in a range of difficult circumstances due to their benefits. This work reviews the characteristics, methods of functionalization, and ways of modification of many novel porous materials in recent years. The use of these porous materials in the treatment of wastewater was examined. The development potential of porous materials is finally summed up.