A review on the adsorption of diuron, carbaryl, and alachlor using natural and activated clays

Abstract

AbstractPesticides are considered predominant organic pollutants because they are widespread in many ecosystems. Pesticide residues can degrade chemically, physically, and biochemically in nature, but, because of their high stability and, in some cases, water solubility, they continue to persist in the environment. Pesticides have been eliminated from contaminated waters using a variety of methods that fall under the categories of biological, chemical, physical, and physicochemical remediation processes from various types of matrices, including water and soil. Due to their excellent qualities as adsorbents and pesticide transporters, the use of natural soil components such as clays, iron oxides, or humic acid has recently attracted growing interest. Clays have several advantages over other adsorbents, including large specific surface areas due to their small particle size, low cost, and widespread availability. Clay minerals have a great capacity for adsorption due to Coulombic forces and, attributable to their large surface area, van der Waals forces. This review describes historical, current, and emerging techniques and materials to remove the pesticides diuron, carbaryl, and alachlor using clays as adsorbents.