Advanced nano-based adsorbents for purification of pharmaceutical residue polluted water: A critical review

Antibiotics, steroids, and personal care products are examples of pharmaceutical contaminants that pose a serious threat to ecosystems worldwide, even at trace levels that are present in the aquatic environments of more than 70 countries. Traditional wastewater treatment methods are unable to completely remove these persistent pollutants, which leads to problems with secondary contamination. This article evaluates the scientific feasibility and practicability of using nano-adsorbents to eliminate pharmaceutical-contaminated water sources. Various nano-adsorbents with unique properties demonstrated impressive capabilities in the adsorption and removal of commonly detected pharmaceutical residues. Notably, metal oxide nanoparticles eliminated ibuprofen by 99.3%, activated carbon removed tetracycline by up to 99.9%, and graphene nanomaterials removed levofloxacin by 99.2%. Novel MXenes, magnetic nanocomposites, and nano-adsorbents based on biopolymers demonstrated remarkable efficacy, eliminating up to 99.4% ceftriaxone, 99.97% promazine, and 98.89% levofloxacin. A thorough examination of the influencing factors that control nano-adsorption processes, such as pH, temperature, contact time, and adsorption isotherm/kinetic models, is discussed in the review. Even though these nanoadsorbent technologies have a lot of potential, some barriers need to be addressed before they can be fully implemented for treating pharmaceutical-contaminated water. These include material instability, toxicity concerns, and problems with large-scale production.