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Sustainable conversion of saturated adsorbents (SAs) from wastewater into value-added products: future prospects and challenges with toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

  • Review Article
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Abstract

Following circular economy principles, the reuse or recycling of saturated adsorbents (SAs or adsorbate-laden adsorbents) into a low-cost engineered product is a valuable alternative to eliminate secondary pollution after adsorption. This review evaluates the application of SAs for the generation of products that can serve as (i) antimicrobial agents or disinfectants, (ii) materials for civil construction, (iii) catalysts, (iv) fertilizers, and (v) secondary adsorbents. The importance of SAs configuration in terms of functional groups, surface area and pore morphology played a crucial role in their reutilization. The SAs-laden silver ions (Ag+) strongly inhibit (~ 99%) the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus microbes found in drinking and wastewaters. The intra-solidification of SAs containing toxic metal pollutants (As3+ and F−) with cementitious materials can effectively reduce their leaching below permissible limits of USEPA standards for their utility as additives in construction work. The existence of transition metal ions (Cu2+, Cr3+/6+, Ni2+) on the surface of SAs boosted activity and selectivity towards the desired product during catalytic oxidation, degradation, and conversion processes. The thermally recycled SAs can assist in the secondary adsorption of pollutants from another waste solution due to a larger surface area (> 1000 m2g−1). However, there are chances that the SAs discussed above will contain traces of PFAS. The article summarizes the challenges, performance efficacy, and future prospects at the end of each value-added product. We also highlight critical challenges for managing PFAS-laden SAs and stimulate new perspectives to minimize PFAS in air, water, and soils.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the submitted manuscript.

Abbreviations

AA:

Antimicrobial agent

A. Junii:

Acinetobacter junii

A.E.Z.:

Ammonia-enriched zeolites

C:

Catalyst

CM:

Construction material

CTC:

Chlortetracycline hydrochloride

CH:

Cyclohexene

Conv:

Conversion

CyONE:

2-Cyclohexene-1-one

CyOX:

2-Cyclohexene-1-ol

d.w:

Dry weight

E.Ac.:

Ethyl acetate

EB:

Ethylbenzene

E. coli:

Escherichia coli

Eth:

Ethanol

GR:

Growth rate

IC:

Initial concentration

IZD:

Inhibition zone diameter

LCSA:

Life cycle sustainability assessment

MB:

Methyl blue

MO:

Methyl orange

MV:

Methyl violet

MIC:

Minimum inhibitory concentration

NC:

Nitrogen content

O.Ad.:

Other adsorbents

P.Ad:

Primary adsorbent

PC:

Phosphorous content

PFOA:

Perfluorooctanoic acid

PFOS:

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid

PFBA:

Perfluorobutanoic acid

PFBS:

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid

PL:

Plant length

PGR:

Plant growth rate

RA:

Residual activity

S:

Selectivity

SA:

Saturated adsorbent

SAd:

Secondary adsorbent

S. aureus:

Staphylococcus aureus

SGR:

Seed germination rate

Sh:

Shrinkage

SL:

Seedling length

SF:

Soil Fertilizer

T:

Toluene

TBL:

Triple bottom line

TC:

Tetracycline

TF:

Traditional fertilizer

WHC:

Water-holding capacity

WRC:

Water retention capacity

ρ:

Density

σc :

Compressive strength

σf : :

Flexural strength

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nano Surface Texturing Lab, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (D.U.), Pune, India

    Amrita Nighojkar & Balasubramanian Kandasubramanian

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur, India

    Vikas Kumar Sangal

  3. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Fuhar Dixit

Authors
  1. Amrita Nighojkar
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  2. Vikas Kumar Sangal
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  3. Fuhar Dixit
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  4. Balasubramanian Kandasubramanian
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Contributions

A. Nighojkar contributed to Material preparation, data collection analysis and writing of the article. V. Sangal and F. Dixit contributed to the analysis and reviewing of the article. B Kandasubramanian made substantial contribution to conceptualization, discussion, and reviewed the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Balasubramanian Kandasubramanian.

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Highlights

• Ag-laden saturated adsorbents (SAs) can replace Ag-NPs as antimicrobial agents.

• N, P-laden SAs possess potential to replace energy intensive chemical fertilizers.

• SAs show intriguing results as construction and secondary adsorbent materials.

• SAs as catalysts open economically-viable avenues for clean energy production.

• Assessment of PFAS toxicity of SAs is warranted before their use on a large scale.

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Nighojkar, A., Sangal, V.K., Dixit, F. et al. Sustainable conversion of saturated adsorbents (SAs) from wastewater into value-added products: future prospects and challenges with toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 78207–78227 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23166-7

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