A review of semiconductor wastewater treatment processes: Current status, challenges, and future trends

Semiconductor wastewater has recently become an emerging issue with the development of semiconductor production owing to its severe toxicity and complexity. The increasing amount of semiconductor wastewater generated and discharged and the use of various chemicals in the semiconductor fabrication process highlight the necessity and importance of semiconductor wastewater treatment. This review describes various physical, chemical, biological, and hybrid or combined processes. These processes have been developed to remove and degrade fluoride, nitrogen, phosphate, turbidity, and organic compounds, including photoresist and washing solutions that are generally used in semiconductor fabrication. To properly treat semiconductor wastewater, understanding the characteristics, efficiency, effect factors, and limitations of the process is necessary. This review proposes future trends in the treatment process that can help minimize the semiconductor wastewater problem.