Recent advances on activated carbon-based materials for nitrate adsorption: A review

Abstract

Nitrate contaminant has a real impact on aquatic environmental systems and public health due to its increasing discharge from agricultural and industrial activities. In particular, high nitrate amount in water can cause eutrophication and different diseases, such as blue baby syndrome. Thus, the removal of nitrate from aquatic ecosystems is essential for preventing such issues. For this purpose, adsorption has been adopted in many studies as a simple, efficient, and eco-friendly technique. Moreover, activated carbon (AC)-based adsorbents exhibit high removal performance towards nitrate owing to their unique pore characteristics and functional groups enriched structures. This article represents a comprehensive review on the production, characterization, and application of AC-based adsorbents for nitrate removal from water. The most common forms of AC-based adsorbents such as raw, modified, and composite are considered. The influences of preparation and adsorption variables on nitrate removal performance of such adsorbents are explained. Furthermore, the nitrate adsorption behavior under batch, fixed bed, and competitive operations along with the mechanism and adsorbents reusability is also discussed. Finally, the conclusions and future trends for the studied adsorption systems are given.