Cellulose Based Green Adsorbents for Pollutant Removal from Wastewater

Abstract

Water pollution is a major problem affecting people across the world. Heavy metals and dyes are major pollutants that pose potential threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. Several treatment technologies are available to reduce the pollutant concentration in water and wastewater. However, many of these pro- cesses are costly, have high energy requirements and generate toxic sludge and wastes that need to be carefully disposed. Addressing these problems invoked the need for green methods that are more efficient, cost effective and environment friendly for water purification. Adsorption is regarded as a green, clean and versatile method for wastewater treatment. Cellulose based materials attained considerable attention for water purification because of its abundant availability, biodegradability and non-toxic nature. This chapter reviews the application of cellulose based materials and their modified forms as adsorbents for the removal of dyes and toxic heavy metals from wastewater. The adsorption efficiency of green adsorbents, cel- lulose based green adsorbents and their modified forms are compared. The adsorp- tion capacity of the adsorbent is enhanced by reducing the cellulosic dimension to the nanolevel. Moreover, further chemical modification of nanocellulose adsorbents result in maximum adsorption.