Fe-AC nanocomposites derived from agro-waste biosorbents: a systematic review of synthesis routes, adsorption mechanisms, regeneration, and environmental sustainability.
- 1NIT Arunachal Pradesh India 791113 [email protected].
- 2CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology Jorhat Assam India 785006.
Abstract
Heavy metals, synthetic dyes, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other persistent contaminants continue to challenge water-treatment systems and require adsorbents that combine high affinity, recoverability, and practical reusability. Iron oxide-grafted agro-waste-derived activated carbon (Fe-AC) composites integrate the porosity and surface chemistry of biomass-derived carbon with Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄-based binding, redox activity, and magnetic separation. This systematic review evaluates synthesis routes, physicochemical characterization, contaminant-specific adsorption mechanisms, regeneration behavior, and the available evidence on environmental and economic implications. Particular attention is given to differences between inorganic and organic pollutant removal, the molecular-level roles of Fe-OH/Fe-O sites and carbon-surface interactions, and the influence of pH, competing ions, natural organic matter, and experimental conditions on reported adsorption performance. The literature indicates strong laboratory-scale potential, but direct cross-study ranking of adsorption capacities is limited by heterogeneous test conditions. Major barriers to practical translation include iron leaching, loss of capacity during regeneration, matrix interference, limited continuous-flow and real-wastewater validation, and the absence of harmonized quantitative life-cycle and techno-economic assessments. These limitations define priorities for standardized benchmarking, mechanistic validation, long-term cycling, pilot-scale testing, and environmentally robust Fe-AC design.
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BibTeX
@article{boruah2026feac,
title = {{Fe-AC nanocomposites derived from agro-waste biosorbents: a systematic review of synthesis routes, adsorption mechanisms, regeneration, and environmental sustainability.}},
author = {Bijoylakshmi Boruah and Pratap Kumar Swain and Manash Ranjan Das},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra07855a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42835549},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fe-AC nanocomposites derived from agro-waste biosorbents: a systematic review of synthesis routes, adsorption mechanisms, regeneration, and environmental sustainability.
AU - Bijoylakshmi Boruah
AU - Pratap Kumar Swain
AU - Manash Ranjan Das
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra07855a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42835549
AB - Heavy metals, synthetic dyes, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other persistent contaminants continue to challenge water-treatment systems and require adsorbents that combine high affinity, recoverability, and practical reusability. Iron oxide-grafted agro-waste-derived activated carbon (Fe-AC) composites integrate the porosity and surface chemistry of biomass-derived carbon with Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄-based binding, redox activity, and magnetic separation. This systematic review evaluates synthesis routes, physicochemical characterization, contaminant-specific adsorption mechanisms, regeneration behavior, and the available evidence on environmental and economic implications. Particular attention is given to differences between inorganic and organic pollutant removal, the molecular-level roles of Fe-OH/Fe-O sites and carbon-surface interactions, and the influence of pH, competing ions, natural organic matter, and experimental conditions on reported adsorption performance. The literature indicates strong laboratory-scale potential, but direct cross-study ranking of adsorption capacities is limited by heterogeneous test conditions. Major barriers to practical translation include iron leaching, loss of capacity during regeneration, matrix interference, limited continuous-flow and real-wastewater validation, and the absence of harmonized quantitative life-cycle and techno-economic assessments. These limitations define priorities for standardized benchmarking, mechanistic validation, long-term cycling, pilot-scale testing, and environmentally robust Fe-AC design.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -