Novel adsorbents in remediation of hazardous environmental pollutants: Progress, selectivity, and sustainability prospects

Abstract

Recent decades witness an enormous increase in concentrations of environmental contaminants of human health concern. The research efforts attempt to develop synthetic (chemicals) and natural (biological) adsorbents for remediation of hazardous heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, antibiotics, and other emerging pollutants. However, application of potential adsorbents in remediation lack selectivity and sustainability prospects. Present review aims to provide a critical discussion on adsorption potential of synthetic and natural adsorbents in sustainability framework. The synthetic adsorbents are discussed in terms of recipes and underlying sorption mechanisms. Herein, pragmatic analysis on novel synthetic adsorbents like ferrate, following green chemistry principles and engineered nanoparticles (NPs) is elucidated. In natural biosorbents (both live and dead biomass), the phyto-technologies, biosorption, natural/engineered biochar, clay, and chitosan are comprehensively reviewed. This panoramic review revealed that phytoremediation and biosorption can be preferred as ‘sustainable bioresource eco-technologies’ for remediation of chemical pollution. The interrelationship between adsorbents and United Nations- Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) is established. Eco-friendly and cost-effective biosorbents tend to follow the sustainability paradigm unlike traditional chemical adsorbents. In conclusion, the ‘biorefinery’, ‘Water-Energy-Food Nexus’ and ‘biocircular economy’ co-benefits of biosorbents can augment the sustainability indicators to help achieve salient SDGs.