Development of sludge-based adsorbents: preparation, characterization, utilization and its feasibility assessment

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Water Treatment Technologies

Background:

• Sludge generation poses significant environmental challenges.
• Sustainable sludge treatment methods are crucial for environmental protection.
• Sludge-based adsorbents (SBAs) are emerging as a viable solution for pollutant removal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current preparation methods for SBAs.
• To discuss the application of SBAs in water treatment for contaminant removal.
• To evaluate the economic feasibility and environmental safety of SBAs.

Main Methods:

• Summarizing and discussing SBAs preparation conditions.
• Analyzing key parameters: pyrolysis temperature, dwell time, heating rate, activator, and feedstock type.
• Evaluating adsorbent efficacy based on surface area, pore size, functional groups, and ion-exchange capacity.

Main Results:

• SBAs demonstrate high adsorption capacity for dyes and metal ions due to cation exchange capacity.
• SBAs exhibit strong antibiotic adsorption performance attributed to mesoporosity.
• Thermal treatment effectively stabilizes heavy metals within sludge.

Conclusions:

• SBAs are effective and potentially sustainable adsorbents for diverse water pollutants.
• Further research is needed on elemental migration, activation reagents, designated applications, and regeneration.
• Economic and environmental aspects require continued investigation for practical implementation.