Waste to catalyst: Role of agricultural waste in water and wastewater treatment

Presently, owing to the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization activities, a huge quantity of wastewater is generated that contain toxic chemical and heavy metals, imposing higher environmental jeopardies and affecting the life of living well-being and the economy of the counties, if not treated appropriately. Subsequently, the advancement in sustainable cost-effective wastewater treatment technology has attracted more attention from policymakers, legislators, and scientific communities. Therefore, the current review intends to highlight the recent development and applications of biochars and/or green nanoparticles (NPs) produced from agricultural waste via green routes in removing the refractory pollutants from water and wastewater. This review also highlights the contemporary application and mechanism of biochar-supported advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the removal of organic pollutants in water and wastewater. Although, the fabrication and application of agriculture waste-derived biochar and NPs are considered a greener approach, nevertheless, before scaling up production and application, its toxicological and life-cycle challenges must be taken into account. Furthermore, future efforts should be carried out towards process engineering to enhance the performance of green catalysts to improve the economy of the process.