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Cellulose-Based Hydrogels for Wastewater Treatment: A Focus on Metal Ions Removal

Summary

Heavy metal pollution from industrial activities poses serious health risks including cancer, kidney damage, and neurological problems. This review explores how cellulose-based hydrogels—soft, water-absorbing materials made from natural plant sources—can effectively remove toxic metals from contaminated water. These hydrogels are cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and can be reused multiple times, making them promising alternatives to conventional water treatment methods for industrial and municipal applications.

Background

Water contamination by heavy metals from industrial activities is a significant environmental and health problem. Traditional wastewater treatment methods have limitations in scalability and cost-effectiveness. Cellulose-based hydrogels offer promising alternatives due to their biodegradability, low cost, and ability to absorb large volumes of water while removing dissolved pollutants.

Objective

This review aims to summarize recent advances in applying hydrogels to treat heavy metal-contaminated wastewater, particularly focusing on cellulose and cellulose derivative-based hydrogels. The review examines manufacturing methods, adsorption mechanisms, and applications while discussing future directions for practical implementation.

Results

Cellulose-based hydrogels demonstrate adsorption capacities for heavy metal ions ranging from 2.3 to 2240 mg/g depending on the metal ion and hydrogel composition. Studies show maximum adsorption capacities of 550-760 mg/g for Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Co²⁺ ions. These materials exhibit good reusability after multiple adsorption-desorption cycles and can be regenerated with solutions like EDTA or HCl.

Conclusion

Cellulose-based hydrogels represent a sustainable and effective solution for heavy metal removal from wastewater with significant advantages in biodegradability, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness. Future research should focus on improving sorption performance and bridging the gap between laboratory research and practical industrial applications through further optimization and scalability studies.
  • Published in:Polymers (Basel),
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: PMID: 38732760, DOI: 10.3390/polym16091292
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