Recent developments in the biosorption of toxic pollutants from wastewater

Due to rapid industrial growth, water pollution is worsening through the release of inorganic and organic pollutants, both soluble and insoluble, into water bodies. The rise of hazardous organic compounds and the high costs of various methods used to remediate industrial effluents containing dyes and metals are also of significant concern. Traditional wastewater treatment methods, including chemical precipitation, ion exchange, and membrane filtration, are often costly and can lead to secondary contamination. Biosorption is a novel, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable method in which microbial biomass captures nonbiodegradable organic compounds from wastewater. This review illustrates the range of biosorbents, including fungi, yeasts, bacteria, agricultural residue, biopolymers, and plant-based materials, and their capacities in pollutant absorption. It clarifies the mechanisms of biosorption in detail and discusses the problems and opportunities aimed at advancing biosorbent efficiency in environmental remediation. Recent advancements in biosorption have led to the development of economical biomass-derived sorbents, functionalized biosorbents, and hybrid biological-nanomaterial systems to improve pollutant removal efficiency and reusability.