A review on waste-derived adsorbents from sugar industry for pollutant removal in water and wastewater

Sugar industry generates a significant amount of by-products (such as sugar beet pulp (SBP), sugarcane bagasse (SCB)) and their handling and management is a matter of great concern. Among their uses such as fuel and fertilizer, the valorization of biowastes from sugar industry as adsorbents for the removal of various aquatic pollutants presents promising features in terms of cost reduction for waste disposal and environmental protection. This review article deals with the use of sugar waste based materials used as adsorbents in water treatment. For this purpose, isotherms, kinetics, desorption and thermodynamic information are thoroughly presented. Moreover, many parameters which control the adsorption process, such as the effect of initial concentration, initial solution pH, contact time, temperature and adsorbent's dosage, are also discussed in detailed. The performance of the adsorbents largely depends on the type of pollutants and experimental conditions. Surface modification with chemicals greatly enhance the removal efficiency with favorable kinetics and adsorption mechanism. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.