Surfactant removal from wastewater: a comparative review on adsorption versus other techniques
Deepali Kulkarni, Dipika Jaspal, Nilisha Itankar
Abstract
A comprehensive approach to water management must be adopted to mitigate the impact of surfactants generated by using soaps, detergents, and hand sanitizers on water quality. The chlorophyll content of plants decreases by 12% when repeatedly irrigated with water containing surfactants. Linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (LAS) detergent is harmful to Lates calcarifer Bloch fish larvae at a concentration of 1.8 mg/L. Thus, surfactants as hazardous emerging chemical contaminants, adversely impact the surrounding environment and hence need proper removal treatment. This article includes discussion on techniques like coagulation, flocculation, membrane filtration, aerobic degradation, advanced oxidation, and phytoremediation for surfactant removal further compared with adsorption in light of current advancements, advantages and disadvantages. The possibility of using a wide range of materials like biomasses, polymers, commercial materials, waste materials, or by-products as adsorbents makes the technique of adsorption not just cost-effective and easy but also opens enormous probabilities for efficient composites. Agricultural waste adsorbent biomaterials such as corncob and rice husk-derived biochar have successfully removed 92% and 96% of surfactants, respectively. Polysulfone-graphene oxide based porous membranes have also demonstrated removal efficiency higher than 90% for a surfactant Triton X 100, after 4 hours of treatments. In this review a comparison between the adsorption and other methods has been presented. The presented review, along with several treatment methods, majorly focuses on adsorption, exploring their ease, cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability.