Design, synthesis, and performance of adsorbents for heavy metal removal from wastewater: a review

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Abstract

The adsorption approach has attracted the most attention for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater, leading to the great development of adsorbents in the past decade (2011–2020).

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination has caused serious impacts on the environment and risks towards human health, promoting intensive R&D efforts for the removal of heavy metals from their primary sources (industrial and agricultural wastewater). Among all developed techniques, the adsorption removal approach has attracted the most attention. This article reviews the recent developments in adsorbents for removing heavy metal ions from wastewater in the past decade (2011–2020). It starts with design principles, followed by the synthesis and performances of adsorbents for removing various heavy metals with 210 references. The developed adsorbents mainly include carbon materials (activated carbon, nanotubes, graphene, and biochar), polymers, metals and metal compounds (nanoparticles, MXenes, metal–organic frameworks, and magnetic materials), minerals (silica, zeolites, and clays), boron and carbon nitrides, industrial and agricultural wastes, and functionalized mesoporous materials. The challenges and prospects are also discussed.

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Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films

K. S. Novoselov, A. K. Geim, S. Morozov … (2004)

We describe monocrystalline graphitic films, which are a few atoms thick but are nonetheless stable under ambient conditions, metallic, and of remarkably high quality. The films are found to be a two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conductance bands, and they exhibit a strong ambipolar electric field effect such that electrons and holes in concentrations up to 10 13 per square centimeter and with room-temperature mobilities of ∼10,000 square centimeters per volt-second can be induced by applying gate voltage.