Geopolymer Development from Adsorption to Membrane Filtration for Wastewater Treatment: A Short Review

Abstract

The increase in wastewater generation has become a global major concern due to the continuous discharge of pollutants, including dyes, heavy metals, nutrients, antibiotics and contaminants of emerging concern. In order to enhance the removal of pollutants from wastewater, various efforts have been made and this include on exploring potential material to be utilized. For this purpose, geopolymers have been introduced as sustainable inorganic materials with potential application in wastewater treatment particularly in adsorption and membrane filtration applications. This short review discusses the development of geopolymer from adsorption application towards membrane filtration with emphasis on the promising findings obtained by past researches reported. This review also provides a critical emphasis on porosity, permeability and mechanical strength performance alongside with the additives and modification on formulation reported by past researches. Current challenges, including actual wastewater application, fouling behaviour, regeneration, leaching resistance, long-term stability and scale-up, are highlighted as future considerations for practical wastewater treatment application.