A Critical Review On Heavy Metals Removal Using Ionic Liquid Membranes From The Industrial Wastewater

Toxic heavy metals create several hazardous impacts on the environment and human lives. Certain heavy metals like Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cd, Zn, Co, Ni, and many others have been discussed in this article. This review article discusses several water treatment technologies like reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, electrochemical, and physio-chemical processes. Fouling, scaling, and operating costs are the major problems of conventional membrane technologies. Selectivity, single-stage operation, and efficacy make liquid membrane an effective method for separation. Liquid membranes have been an exciting research area for various liquid-liquid and gas-liquid separation processes. In this aspect, modified supported liquid membranes like supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) emerge as a strong contender. In SILMs, ionic liquid plays a crucial role as the carrier. Various interesting properties of ionic liquids like negligible vapor pressure, liquid at room temperature, and versatile operations make working in extreme conditions. This paper emphasizes the possibility of various heavy metals that can be removed using SILMs. This paper compares the conventional separation techniques with liquid membranes like a bulk liquid membrane, emulsion liquid membrane, and supported liquid membrane.

Automated summary

This article discusses the hazardous impacts of toxic heavy metals on the environment and human lives, and explores the application of liquid membranes in separating heavy metals. The research finds that supported ionic liquid membranes are an effective method for separation.