In the last three decades, pharmaceutical research has increased tremendously to offer safe and healthy life. However, the high consumption of these harmful drugs has risen devastating impact on ecosystems. Therefore, it is worldwide paramount concern to effectively clean pharmaceuticals contaminated water streams to ensure safer environment and healthier life. Nanotechnology enables to produce new, high-technical material, such as membranes, adsorbent, nano-catalysts, functional surfaces, coverages and reagents for more effective water and wastewater cleanup processes. Nevertheless, nano-sorbent materials are regarded the most appropriate treatment technology for water and wastewater because of their facile application and a large number of adsorbents. Several conventional techniques have been operational for domestic wastewater treatment but are inefficient for pharmaceuticals removal. Alternatively, adsorption techniques have played a pivotal role in water and wastewater treatment for a long, but their rise in attraction is proportional with the continuous emergence of new micropollutants in the aquatic environment and new discoveries of sustainable and low-cost adsorbents. Recently, advancements in adsorption technique for wastewater treatment through nanoadsorbents has greatly increased due to its low production cost, sustainability, better physicochemical properties and high removal performance for pharmaceuticals. Herein, this review critically evaluates the performance of sustainable green nanoadsorbent for the remediation of pharmaceutical pollutants from water. The influential sorption parameters and interaction mechanism are also discussed. Moreover, the future prospects of nanoadsorbents for the remediation of pharmaceuticals are also presented. 

Sustainable green nanoadsorbents for remediation of pharmaceuticals from water and wastewater: A critical review

Sustainable green nanoadsorbents for remediation of pharmaceuticals from water and wastewater: A critical review.

Biochars intended for water filtration: A comparative study with activated carbons of their physicochemical properties and removal efficiency towards neutral and anionic organic pollutants.

Charge-dependent negative effects of polystyrene nanoplastics on Oryzias melastigma under ocean acidification conditions.

Iodine adsorption isotherms on Matamba fruit shell stemmed biochar for wastewater re-use strategy in rural areas owing to climate change.

Over the past decade, biochar (BC) has received significant attention in many environmental applications, including water purification, since it is available as a low-cost by-product of the energetic valorisation of biomass. Biochar has many intrinsic characteristics, including its porous structure, which is similar to that of activated carbon (AC), which is the most widely used sorbent in water treatment. The physicochemical and performance characteristics of BCs are usually non-homogenously investigated, with several studies only evaluating limited parameters, depending on the individual perspective of the author. Within this review, we have taken an innovative approach to critically survey the methodologies that are generally used to characterize BCs and ACs to propose a comprehensive and ready-to-use database of protocols. Discussion about the parameters of chars that are usually correlated with adsorption performance in water purification is proposed, and we will also consider the physicochemical properties of pollutants (i.e., Kow). Uniquely, an adsorption efficiency index BC/AC is presented and discussed, which is accompanied by an economic perspective. According to our survey, non-homogeneous characterization approaches limit the understanding of the correlations between the pollutants to be removed and the physicochemical features of BCs. Moreover, the investigations of BC as an adsorption medium necessitate dedicated parallel studies to compare BC characteristics and performances with those of ACs.

Characterization Techniques as Supporting Tools for the Interpretation of Biochar Adsorption Efficiency in Water Treatment: A Critical Review.

Removal of sugars from food and beverage wastewaters by amino-modified SBA-15

Microwave-assisted extraction and gas chromatographic determination of thirty priority micropollutants in biowaste fraction derived from municipal solid waste for material recovery in the circular-economy approach.

Irene Ingrando

Papers

Biochars intended for water filtration: A comparative study with activated carbons of their physicochemical properties and removal efficiency towards neutral and anionic organic pollutants.

Characterization Techniques as Supporting Tools for the Interpretation of Biochar Adsorption Efficiency in Water Treatment: A Critical Review.

Removal of sugars from food and beverage wastewaters by amino-modified SBA-15

Microwave-assisted extraction and gas chromatographic determination of thirty priority micropollutants in biowaste fraction derived from municipal solid waste for material recovery in the circular-economy approach.