A Comprehensive Review on Iron Oxide and Iron Oxide-based Nanomaterials for Wastewater Treatment

The growing need for water and the increase in wastewater generation globally demand efficient water treatment processes. Conventional water remediation efforts are insufficient to meet current water treatment requirements. Nanomaterial water remediation has shown promising results and needs to be explored on a larger scale to address these issues. The most recent focus has been on composite nanomaterials made of iron oxide magnetic and superparamagnetic NPs, which have attracted considerable interest owing to their desirable characteristics, including excellent after-use recovery, targeted quality, and affordability. Iron oxide-based nanomaterials can remove organic and inorganic contaminants in multiple ways. In addition, several nanocomposites have been employed to improve their performance and incorporate novel advantageous characteristics. Chemical, green, and biological processes are used to produce these materials. Synergistic properties for water cleanup have been demonstrated using various iron-based nanocomposites. Various mechanisms of pollution removal, such as adsorption, desorption, photocatalysis, and flocculation/coagulation, have been targeted during the design of NPs. The types of water pollutants, choice of remediation methods, and various methods required for QC and the efficiency of these nanomaterials were reviewed. This review discusses various methods for preparing magnetic nanoparticles, their composite materials, the mechanism of pollutant removal, and recent applications exploring synergistic behavior for pollution removal for efficient water remediation. Issues such as safety, toxicity, removal after use, and disposal of these materials are also discussed. This manuscript provides a quick overview of iron oxide nanomaterials as a reference for advancing further studies in this area. We plan to contribute to the production bibliography of various aspects of iron-based nanomaterials for water and wastewater treatment.