Adsorption of various inorganic and organic pollutants by natural and synthetic zeolites: A critical review

Abstract

Zeolites are microporous crystalline aluminosilicates with high surface area and uniform pore size. Natural and synthetic zeolites have been used to adsorb organic and inorganic compounds in aqueous media due to thier particular physicochemical properties and the low cost of the process. The flexibility of zeolites to remove pollutants from water, such as dyes, heavy metal ions, and phenolic compounds, is discussed in this document in the context of contemporary research. This review briefly consolidates the currently available literature to comprehend the structure of zeolites and their synthesized by hydrothermal method. Later, this manuscript is present different parameters to study the adsorption mechanisms of organic and inorganic contaminants using the zeolites. The main adsorption processes using zeolites as adsorbents include chelation, surface adsorption, natural processes, diffusion, electrostatic interaction and complexation. In addition, the research demonstrates that the dominant models in the isothermal and kinetic study of adsorption are the Langmuir and the pseudo-second-order models. We can assess the beneficial applicability of zeolite materials for real wastewater treatment in the future by comparing their adsorption capacities for removing harmful substances from water to those of other adsorbents and crude zeolites.

Keywords

• Adsorption
• Synthetized zeolites
• Organic and inorganic pollutants