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Water decontamination using bio-based, chemically functionalized, doped, and ionic liquid-enhanced adsorbents: review

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Abstract

The access to clean water is a critical issue in the context of climate change and worldwide pollution, calling for advanced methods of purification. Recent advances in materials science, nanoscience, and analytical chemistry have led to the design of novel nanoadsorbents having a unique properties, structure, and adsorption performances. In particular, research has focused on all-inclusive adsorbents which can remove different contaminants simultaneously. Here, we review the adsorption dynamics of doped, ionic liquid-enhanced, bio-based, and chemically functionalized materials. We examine their characteristics, underlying principles of adsorption, and their potential limitations in adsorbing various metal ions and xenobiotics. We found that chemical functionalization with specific organic moieties is a preferred approach for enhancing the adsorption capacities and selectivity of raw materials. Moreover, doping can also modulate the morphology, electronic structure, and surface chemistry for higher performance. Ionic liquids are promising solvents for the synthesis of stable adsorbents, owing to ionic liquid ability to pull other molecules through hydrogen bonds or electrostatic forces.

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Acknowledgments

Marta Otero thanks FCT for the Investigator Program (IF/00314/2015) and FCT/MCTES for financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020+ UIDB/50017/2020). The contents of this article were cross-checked for similarity in an appropriate platform. This work did not receive any funding.

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Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare, Moonis Ali Khan, Marta Otero, Zumar Muhammad Ali Bundhoo, Chanaka Navarathna, Manvendra Patel, Dinesh Mohan, and Pooyan Makvandi contributed to data curation; writing original draft, review and editing; and revision. Ackmez Mudhoo contributed to conceptualization; data curation; writing original draft, review and editing; and revision. Anju Srivastava, Charles U. Pittman Jr., and Todd Mlsna helped in writing and contributing to original draft, review and editing; and revision. Mika Sillanpää performed review of original draft and editing; and revision.

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Correspondence to Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare or Mika Sillanpää.

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Zare, E.N., Mudhoo, A., Khan, M.A. et al. Water decontamination using bio-based, chemically functionalized, doped, and ionic liquid-enhanced adsorbents: review. Environ Chem Lett 19, 3075–3114 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01207-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01207-w

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