Novel geomaterials for the remediation of toxic pollutants: A review

Abstract

The removal of hazardous and life-threatening integrated effluents from contaminated water is a major trepidation, and the remediation process obtains reclaimed potable and sparkling water, where Geopolymer arose as the foremost effectual substance. Geopolymer-based materials are the representatives of a massive group of inorganic amorphous aluminosilicate materials with versatile industrial applications, and they have been recently developed as an ideal adsorbent owing to their chemical and physical stability as well as the skeletal network structure with the presence of terminally negative charged ions and porous nature along with the large surface area of ∼292.05m2g-1 with a removal efficiency of 98% for mesoporous geopolymer. Geopolymer, mainly derived from raw products like Metakaolin and Fly-ash, is frequently employed as adsorbents for removing toxic heavy metals, dyes, and radioactive nuclides. The current scientometric assessment aims to properly comprehend and evaluate the potential remediation of integrated effluents from wastewater thoroughly through various techniques such as adsorption, immobilization, and encapsulation using geopolymer-based materials. Advanced fabrication techniques like 3D Printing, spin-coating, and phase inversion, the detailed mechanism of adsorption, the introduction of various isotherms, and kinetic models, along with regeneration ability, have also been explained.

Keywords

• Geopolymers
• Dyes
• Heavy metals
• Nuclear waste
• Adsorption