In the last decade, a dramatic advancement has been made in the
adsorption process and methods to remove contaminants or recycle valuable compounds from industrial effluents. Particularly, nanoscience and nanotechnology, which is growing very rapidly, has opened new horizons in different fields including nanoadsorption, for example, resins,
nanoclays, graphene, and
metal oxides. Nanoadsorbents have unique characteristics like high surface area, small size, high stability, high reactivity, and can be regenerated many times. The mechanism of adsorption is adhesion of a solute of a fluid phase (adsorbate molecule) through molecular interaction onto the porous surface of an adsorbent material. Nanoadsorbents have infinite applications in various industries, such as
wastewater treatment and
water purification in water and environment industry, production of nanofertilizers in the agriculture industry, and recovery of some valuable compounds from food and beverage by-products in the food industries. This chapter reviews the properties of nanoclay, zero-valent iron
nanoparticles, active carbon, and graphene oxide as abundant, low-cost, and applicable sources for removal and adsorbing agents in the food industry, as well as discussing their characteristics, classification,
adsorption isotherms, and models, plus their application in the food sector.
