A Short Review on Recent Advances of Hydrogel-Based Adsorbents for Heavy Metal Ions

The growth of industry fulfills our necessity and promotes economic development. However, pollutants from such industries pollute water bodies which pose a high risk for living organisms. Thus, researchers have been urged to develop an efficient method to remove toxic heavy metal ions from water bodies. The adsorption method shows promising results for the removal of heavy metal ions and is easy to operate on a large scale, thus can be applied to practical applications. Numerous adsorbents were developed and reported, among them hydrogels, which attract great attention because of the reusability, ease of preparation, and handling. Hydrogels are generally prepared by the cross-linking of polymers that result in a three-dimensional structure, showing high porosity and high functionality. They are hydrophilic in nature because of the functional groups, and are non-toxic. Thus, this review provides various methods of hydrogel adsorbents preparation and summarizes recent progress in the use of hydrogel adsorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions. Further, the mechanism involved in the removal of heavy metal ions is briefly discussed. The most recent studies about the adsorption method for the treatment of heavy metal ions contaminated water are presented.

Automated summary

The growth of industries has led to pollution of water bodies with toxic heavy metal ions, prompting researchers to develop efficient methods for their removal. The adsorption method, particularly using hydrogels, has shown promising results due to their reusability, ease of preparation, and non-toxic properties. This review summarizes various methods of preparing hydrogel adsorbents and recent progress in their application for the removal of heavy metal ions.