Abstract
The problem of water pollution is of a great concern. Adsorption is one of the most efficient techniques for removing noxious heavy metals from the solvent phase. This paper presents a detailed information and review on the adsorption of noxious heavy metal ions from wastewater effluents using various adsorbents – i.e., conventional (activated carbons, zeolites, clays, biosorbents, and industrial by-products) and nanostructured (fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphenes). In addition to this, the efficiency of developed materials for adsorption of the heavy metals is discussed in detail along with the comparison of their maximum adsorption capacity in tabular form. A special focus is made on the perspectives of further wider applications of nanostructured adsorbents (especially, carbon nanotubes and graphenes) in wastewater treatment.
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•Purification of wastewater effluents is the important environmental issue.•Heavy metals are extremely dangerous toxic wastewater contaminants.•Liquid-phase adsorption is an efficient way of wastewater purification.•Existing materials do not meet modern requirements for purification quality.•Carbon nanostructures are high-tech and promising new-generation adsorbents.