HEAVY METAL EXTRACTION FROM WASTEWATER USING POLYVINYL ALCOHOL-BASED SUPERABSORBENTS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW
Muskan Salaria, Lalita Chopra, Carlo Santulli, Cristiano Fragassa
Abstract: Industrial activities contribute significantly to environmental pollution, particularly through the release of hazardous contaminants into water bodies. Water treatment is essential for reusing it in agriculture, industry, and services, and, in its purest form, for food production and human use. Heavy metals, such as Ni(II), Cr(III) and Cr(VI), Pb(II), Hg(II), and Zn (II), are among the major industrial contaminants in water. Several innovative methods and technologies can contribute to wastewater treatment, including ion exchange, chemical reduction and oxidation, precipitation, and membrane filtration techniques, such as reverse osmosis. In the case of contamination from heavy metal ions, their adsorption from aqueous medium can be considered a highly efficient method. Among polymer-based adsorbents, such as chitosan, starch, and cellulose, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has attracted considerable attention for its water solubility, non-toxicity, biodegradability, and high potential for chemical modification via grafting and crosslinking. Although PVA presents limitations such as low mechanical properties and limited intrinsic functionality, its adsorption performance can be significantly improved through copolymerization and other modification strategies. This review provides an overview of PVA modification approaches to enhance the adsorption capacity of hydrogel-based PVA polymers for heavy metal sorption. Particular attention is given to the use of monomers such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), acrylic acid, and acrylamide, as well as crosslinkers such as N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), boric acid, and citric acid. Finally, the prospects of modified PVA-based hydrogels in terms of efficiency, affordability, and sustainability for water treatment are discussed.
Keywords: Poly(vinyl alcohol), Heavy metal adsorption, Hydrogel-based adsorbents, Water purification, Environmental remediation, Functionalized polymers, Hybrid adsorbents, Metal-ion removal
DOI: 10.24874/PES08.03B.003
Recieved: 13.04.2026 Revised: 07.07.2026 Accepted: 04.08.2026
UDC:
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