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Chitosan-based hybrid composites for emerging organic micropollutants removal from wastewater: Recent advancement, mechanism, up-scaling, and challenges

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2026
Lalit Goswami, Saroj Ahirwar, Karabi Roy, Pritam Kumar Dikshit, Surabhi Sinha, Aman Prakash, Akhilesh Bind, Ayush Kumar, Rahele Khosravi, Harvinder Singh Sohal, Rekha Goswami, Izharul Haq, G. Siva Reddy, Seungdae Oh

Summary

Our tap water and wastewater often contain tiny amounts of drugs, pesticides, and even microplastics that standard treatment plants struggle to remove completely. This review paper rounds up existing research on chitosan—a natural material made from shrimp and crab shells—showing how scientists are turning it into sponge-like filters that can soak up these unwanted pollutants from water. While the technology looks promising, the researchers note it still faces hurdles before it can be scaled up for widespread use in real water treatment facilities.

Study Type Environmental

The unprecedented rise in emerging organic micropollutants (EOMPs) due to the globalization and industrialization has inescapably risen to their maximum known concentrations in the aquatic ecosystem, till date. Chitosan has emerged as one of the abundant and promising biopolymer for evolving as eco-friendly adsorbents for EOMPs removal from wastewater. The present review paper initially includes different sources, preparation, properties and various modification techniques of chitosan-based hybrid composites for EOMPs removal. The removal efficiencies of various modified chitosan-based composites were discussed and compared for EOMPs removal including pharmaceutical compounds, personal care products, insecticides, pesticides, illicit drugs, microplastics, PFAS, etc. The mechanism of adsorption including hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, hydrophilic interactions, and π-π stacking along with physicochemical properties affecting the treatment performance were elaborated in detail. Further, the industrial scaling-up and limitations were covered. Overall, the present review describes the potential strategies for designing the next-generation chitosan-based hybrid composites for EOMPs removal from wastewater, overcoming the limitations for future progress is also proposed.

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