Water pollution is a major environmental issue that has a wide range of impacts on ecosystems, human health, and the economy. During recent years, pharmaceutical compounds have been considered an emerging water micro-pollutant due to their potential eco-toxicity. Pharmaceuticals, personal care items, steroid hormones, and agrochemicals are synthetic and indigenous products that makeup micropollutants, also known as emerging contaminants. Due to the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), excessive use of antibiotics in addition to the painkillers used in the treatment protocol established by the World Health Organization. Thus, these compounds have become in water sources with higher concentrations. New techniques have been used to remove these environmental pollutants to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). This article provides a critical review of various methods presenting the potential to be applied for removing pharmaceuticals from water. Several processes: adsorption, advanced oxidation processes (photodegradation, photocatalysis, ozonation, Fenton reaction, Wet Air Oxidation, ultraviolet radiation, hydrogen peroxide oxidation), and membrane-based techniques (ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, membrane distillation) are analyzed, and their performance during removal of pharmaceuticals from water is compared. Moreover, summaries presenting the efficiency of various materials applied during each process are provided. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed method are summarised and comprehensively discussed.
In the present era of significant industrial development, the presence and dispersal of countless water contaminants in water bodies worldwide have rendered them unsuitable for various forms of life. Recently, the awareness of environmental sustainability for wastewater treatment has increased rapidly in quest of meeting the global water demand. Despite numerous conventional adsorbents on deck, exploring low-cost and efficient adsorbents is interesting. Clays and clays-based geopolymers are intensively used as natural, alternative, and promising adsorbents to meet the goals for combating climate change and providing low carbon, heat, and power. In this narrative work, the present review highlights the persistence of some inorganic/organic water pollutants in aquatic bodies. Moreover, it comprehensively summarizes the advancement in the strategies associated with synthesizing clays and their based geopolymers, characterization techniques, and applications in water treatment. Furthermore, the critical challenges, opportunities, and future prospective regarding the circular economy are additionally outlined. This review expounded on the ongoing research studies for leveraging these eco-friendly materials to address water decontamination. The adsorption mechanisms of clays-based geopolymers are successfully presented. Therefore, the present review is believed to deepen insights into wastewater treatment using clays and clays-based geopolymers as a groundbreaking aspect in accord with the waste-to-wealth concept toward broader sustainable development goals.
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