Aromatic conjugated polymers for removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater: a short review

Abstract

Pollution caused due to the leaching of heavy metal ions in aqueous environment has become a real concern in the present scenario. Therefore, purification of drinking water before consumption is essential for maintaining a healthy life. Among various approaches employed for this purpose, filtration by membranes and adsorption on specific substrates have been found to be two very promising techniques due to their efficiency, ease of operation, cost effectiveness and requirement of low operational space. A large variety of materials have been utilized to date in fabricating these membranes and adsorbents. However, it has been observed very recently that filtration membranes and adsorbents containing aromatic conjugated polymers (ACPs), polyaniline and polypyrrole in particular, exhibit superior metal ion removal efficiency. Such membranes and adsorbents also possess high surface areas and charge and site density within their structure to attract and attach metal ions. Herein, the recent research activities involved in the fabrication and utilization of ACP-containing membranes and adsorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater are summerized.