Comprehensive Review of Modification, Optimisation, and Characterisation Methods Applied to Plant-Based Natural Coagulants (PBNCs) for Water and Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

This review investigates the modification, optimisation, and characterisation of plant-based natural coagulants applied to water treatment. The disadvantages of plant-based materials hinder their application as alternatives to chemical coagulants, necessitating their modification to alter and enhance their physicochemical properties, making them suitable for application. Modification via microwave-assisted grafting copolymerisation has been found to be the most preferred approach compared to conventional methods. Optimisation of the coagulation process using response surface methodology has been shown to be practical. Different techniques are used in determining the physicochemical properties of plant-based natural coagulants. Some of these techniques have been tabulated, describing the properties each technique is capable of investigating. In conclusion, modification and optimisation of plant-based natural coagulants will result in the production of new materials that are stable and suitable for application as coagulants in water treatment.

Comprehensive dataset on fluoride removal from aqueous solution by enhanced electrocoagulation process by persulfate salts

“…In the field of water treatment, coagulation and flocculation are crucial processes that involve the aggregation of suspended and colloidal particles into flocs that can rapidly settle to the bottom of a clarifier, leaving a clear supernatant suitable for filtration. [ 12 , 13 ]. The use of chemical coagulants has been found to leave trace amounts of chemicals in the water filtrate, which can lead to long-term ingestion of these chemicals and have been associated with neurodegenerative diseases.…”

“…The use of chemical coagulants has been found to leave trace amounts of chemicals in the water filtrate, which can lead to long-term ingestion of these chemicals and have been associated with neurodegenerative diseases. This contradicts the purpose of water treatment, making the need for an alternative to these chemicals imperative [12] . To overcome the disadvantages of mentioned methods, the combined process was proposed to achieve high performance and low operational problems [ 14 , 15 ].…”