Recent Advances in Biopolymer-Based Dye Removal Technologies

Abstract

Synthetic dyes have become an integral part of many industries such as textiles, tannin and even food and pharmaceuticals. Industrial dye effluents from various dye utilizing industries are considered harmful to the environment and human health due to their intense color, toxicity and carcinogenic nature. To mitigate environmental and public health related issues, different techniques of dye remediation have been widely investigated. However, efficient and cost-effective methods of dye removal have not been fully established yet. This paper highlights and presents a review of recent literature on the utilization of the most widely available biopolymers, specifically, cellulose, chitin and chitosan-based products for dye removal. The focus has been limited to the three most widely explored technologies: adsorption, advanced oxidation processes and membrane filtration. Due to their high efficiency in dye removal coupled with environmental benignity, scalability, low cost and non-toxicity, biopolymer-based dye removal technologies have the potential to become sustainable alternatives for the remediation of industrial dye effluents as well as contaminated water bodies.

Removal of Dyes by Polymer-Enhanced Ultrafiltration: An Overview

“…Dyes are defined as substances that when applied to a substrate provide changes in the crystalline structure, thus changing the interaction with light by reflecting a different visible wavelength that consequently reflects the color of the dye [ 32 , 36 ]. Responsible for providing color to the dyes is a group of atoms called chromophores (electron acceptors) which are represented by the following radicals: azo (-N=N-), carbonyl (=C=O), carbon (=C=C=C=), carbon nitrogen (=C=NH or -CH=N-), nitrous (-NO or N-OH), nitric (-NO 2 or =NO-OH), and sulfur (=C=S) [ 7 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Responsible for dyeing ability is a group of atoms called auxochromes (electron donors) which are usually aromatic structures containing benzene, naphthalene or anthracene rings.…”

C.I. Basic Red 46 Removal from Sewage by Carbon and Silica Based Composite: Equilibrium, Kinetic and Electrokinetic Studies

“…Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to find an effective and economical way of removing dyes from the industrial effluents. There is a lot of information available in the literature about the methods of their removal [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. These methods can be divided into chemical and physical ones.…”

“…Among the abovementioned techniques for the removal of dyes from wastewater, adsorption is very popular. This is a simple technique in terms of technology and is very efficient and economical, because it allows the use of sorbents of both natural and synthetic origin, as well as industrial waste materials [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 8 ]. At present, the most popular adsorbents are materials based on activated carbon due to its developed specific surface area and high porosity, as well as high efficiency in the removal of dyes from wastewater [ 9 ].…”

Cationic Lignocellulose Nanofibers from Agricultural Waste as High-Performing Adsorbents for the Removal of Dissolved and Colloidal Substances

“…Cellulosic nanomaterials are generally obtained from pretreated cellulose followed by nanofibrillation. So far, cellulosic nanomaterials have been used to adsorb and remove many types of water contaminants, such as natural organic matter [ 15 ], dye [ 16 ], heavy metals [ 17 , 18 ], fluoride [ 19 ], pharmaceutical agents [ 20 ] and viruses [ 21 ]. Cellulosic nanomaterials have proven to be an ideal sorbent for water contaminants.…”