Removal of Copper Ions from Wastewater: A Review

Abstract

Copper pollution of the world’s water resources is becoming increasingly serious and poses a serious threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems. With reported copper concentrations in wastewater ranging from approximately 2.5 mg/L to 10,000 mg/L, a summary of remediation techniques for different contamination scenarios is essential. Therefore, it is important to develop low-cost, feasible, and sustainable wastewater removal technologies. Various methods for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater have been extensively studied in recent years. This paper reviews the current methods used to treat Cu(II)-containing wastewater and evaluates these technologies and their health effects. These technologies include membrane separation, ion exchange, chemical precipitation, electrochemistry, adsorption, and biotechnology. Thus, in this paper, we review the efforts and technological advances made so far in the pursuit of more efficient removal and recovery of Cu(II) from industrial wastewater and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each technology in terms of research prospects, technical bottlenecks, and application scenarios. Meanwhile, this study points out that achieving low health risk effluent through technology coupling is the focus of future research.

Copper Decontamination Using Feather Keratin Amyloid-Carbon Hybrid Membranes

“…25 Although established technologies have been able to bring down high concentrations of Cu in effluents to sub ppm levels, they still do not meet certain standards of Cu in drinkable water. 26,27 Moreover, the utilization of membrane technologies in water treatment is costly due to the high power consumption. In this study, the addition of keratin amyloid fibrils into activated carbon to form a hybrid membrane further improved the removal efficiency (E) from 78 to 97%, reducing Cu concentrations from 2 ppm to 60 ppb (Figure 4a) and serving as high Cu-adsorbing fillers in the carbon matrix (Figure S1).…”

Keratin-derived sorbents for efficient removal of copper ions from aqueous solutions

“…In case the keratin polymer was not formed, a comparative adsorption study of keratins, DAA polymers, and KH/DAA towards Cu( ii ) was conducted following conditions in which a mixture of 50 mL solution containing 500 mg L −1 Cu( ii ), 30 mg adsorbent was used and kept at 30 °C for 12 h. It has been noted that the concentration of copper in wastewater differs significantly (2.5 mg L −1 to 10 g L −1 ) from different resources. 37 The concentration of copper in the study was 500 mg L −1 to make sure that the conclusion can be applied to different conditions. Our findings revealed that keratins exhibited moderate adsorption capacity towards Cu( ii ) (29.7 mg g −1 ), while the DAA polymer demonstrated a higher capacity for Cu( ii ) (215.6 mg g −1 ).…”

Preparation of a Porous Geopolymer (SPG) to be Used as an Adsorbent for Cu2+ Removal

“…Copper, a quintessential transition metal naturally abundant, is classified among heavy metals . Copper ions can infiltrate surface and groundwater systems, potentially contaminating drinking water sources and posing a threat to human health . Copper ion pollution has been escalating in the global aquatic environment and has been recognized as a principal heavy metal contaminant due to its associated health risks .…”

“…Physicochemical methods include membrane separation, ion exchange, chemical precipitation, electrochemistry, and adsorption, whereas the biological methods encompass biosorption, bioprecipitation, and biomineralization . While the aforementioned treatment technologies can be utilized for the removal of copper ions, they each have inherent advantages and limitations . The adsorption method offers several advantages, such as the ready availability of materials, straightforward operation, low cost, ready availability of materials, rapid reaction rate, and effective treatment outcomes.…”