Nanoadsorbents based on conducting polymer nanocomposites with main focus on polyaniline and its derivatives for removal of heavy metal ions/dyes: A review

Water contamination by toxic heavy metal ions and dyes remains a serious public health problem for humans, so attention on specific methods and technologies to remove heavy metal ions and dyes from wastewaters/aqueous solutions are desired. Numerous adsorbents have been reported for the removal of heavy metal ions/dyes from wastewaters/aqueous solutions. Polyaniline (PANI) and its derivatives, as conducting polymers, are good adsorbents to remove various kinds of heavy metal ions and dyes from wastewaters/aqueous solutions. The nanoadsorbents based on PANI and its derivatives have received much consideration, and are extensively reported in literature. This review focuses on the PANI and its derivatives based on nanoadsorbents for water purification. Various types of these nanoadsorbents used for the removal of heavy metal ions/dyes from wastewaters/aqueous solutions are also briefly compared in this review.