Removal of emerging contaminants from wastewater using advanced treatments. A review

The rise of emerging contaminants in waters challenges the scientific community and water treatment stakeholders to design remediation techniques that are simple, practical, inexpensive, effective, environmentally friendly. Emerging include antibiotics, hormones, illicit drugs, endocrine disruptors, cosmetics, personal care products, pesticides, surfactants, industrial microplastics, nanoparticles, nanomaterials. Removing those is not easy because classical wastewater systems designed handle contaminants, often occur as traces complex organo-mineral mixtures. Here, we review advanced treatments for removal wastewater, with focus on adsorption-oriented processes using non-conventional adsorbents such cyclodextrin polymers, metal–organic frameworks, molecularly imprinted chitosan, nanocellulose. We describe biological-based technologies degradation contaminants. Then, present oxidation most promising strategies their simplicity efficiency.