Synthesis, Mechanism, and Performance Assessment of Zero-Valent Iron for Metal-Contaminated Water Remediation: A Review

Recently, increased industrial and agriculture activities have resulted in toxic metal ions, which has increased public concern about the quality of surface and groundwater. Various types of physical, biological, and chemical approaches have been developed to remove surface and groundwater metal ions contaminants. Among these practices, zero-valent iron (ZVI) is the most studied reactive material for environmental clean-up over the last two decade and so. Although ZVI can remove the contaminants even more efficiently than any other reactive materials. However, low reactivity due to its intrinsic passive layer, narrow working pH, and the loss of hydraulic conductivity due to the precipitation of metal hydroxides and metal carbonates limits its wide-scale application. The aim of this work is to document properties, synthesis, and reaction mechanism of ZVI for the treatment of metal ions from the surface and groundwater in recent 10 years (2008-2018). So far, different modified techniques such as conjugation with support, bimetal alloying, weak magnetic field, and ZVI/oxidant coupling system have been developed to facilitate the use of ZVI in various environmental remediation scenarios. However, some challenges still remain to be addressed. Therefore, development and research in this field are needed to overcome or mitigate these limitations.