Iron-based nanoparticles in wastewater treatment: A review on synthesis methods, applications, and removal mechanisms

Nanomaterial is an emerging material with potential technological impacts in various applications. It imposes great opportunities in various disciplines including wastewater remediation. Industrial wastewater is generated with anthropogenic activities and is the most environmental threat that needs remediation to overcome the environmental damages, thereby reducing human risks. Currently, several wastewater treatment techniques are applied and the utilization of nanoma-terials for pollutant removal is an emerging technology. This is evident that the publication trends in the field of iron-based wastewater have been drastically increased. In this work, the overview of the preparation of iron-based nanoparticles, such as different polymorphs of iron-oxides, oxyhy-droxides, iron hydroxide, and zero-valent iron nanoparticles are reviewed. In addition to the detailed discussion on the preparation of iron-based nanoparticles, their application on waste water treatment, removal mechanisms, advantages, and limitations are also assessed and discussed. More -over, the iron-based nanoparticles' removal efficiency for specific pollutants and perspective in envi-ronmental remediation are also analyzed. Additionally, the advancements and future perspectives of iron-based nanoparticles are highlighted. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Nanomaterials, particularly iron-based nanoparticles, show great potential in wastewater treatment. Their preparation, applications, advantages, limitations, removal efficiency for specific pollutants, and future prospects have drawn significant attention.