A comprehensive review on technological advances of adsorption for removing nitrate and phosphate from waste water

Nitrate and phosphate contamination in water sources is considered a major problem globally. The excessive discharge of nitrate and phosphate is responsible for the most widespread contamination in an aquatic system, causes eutrophication to harm the ecosystem, and severe threats to people's health. So the removal and recovery of these nitrate and phosphate are esteemed as one of the interventions to prevent the water bodies' eutrophi-cation by application of numerous methods. Adsorption is a low-cost, efficient, environmentally friendly, and universal method utilized to remove nitrate and phosphate from wastewater. Here we review adsorption as an effective method for removing nitrate and phosphate from an aqueous solution, even with a low effluent con-centration in the water medium. The major points are the following: first, this review compiles the data reported in the various literature about nitrate and phosphate removal through adsorption using different adsorbents like carbon base, clay base, zeolite base, chitosan, agricultural waste, cellulose nanocrystal, cellulose nanofibre, metal hydroxide, and biochar base. Second, the adsorption capacity, preparation, and modification method of adsor-bents, the effect of temperature, and pH of using such adsorbents for removing nitrate and phosphate have also been discussed. Third, a discussion of some high-performance adsorbents for the removal of nitrate and phos-phate is proposed; this is a key novelty of this review work. Moreover, the future outlook and upcoming nitrate and phosphate removal and recovery challenges are presented.