Advanced Sorbent Materials for Treatment of Wastewaters

Abstract

Despite the existence of a wide range of wastewater treatment technologies, sorption is still commonly applied for the purification of industrial effluents. This is particularly valid for textile industry effluents, where different techniques must be combined to achieve the optimum effect of purification. The combination of biological and physicochemical processes results in the removal of most organic and inorganic pollutants from textile wastewater but the resulting effluent is still fairly colored and needs to be additionally treated. Therefore, an overview of conventional and advanced sorbents for the treatment of wastewaters is reported. The use of activated carbon and zeolites in color removal and removal of heavy metal ions from textile effluents is discussed in detail. The potential of low-cost or cost-effective sorbents as an alternative to the conventionally used sorbents is also underlined. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of using nanomaterials in the treatment of industrial wastewaters are highlighted.