A critical review on cadmium recovery from wastewater towards environmental sustainability

In this contemporary era, due to the growth of the world's population, fast progress of modern industries all over the world and comprehensible limitation of the world's freshwater reserves for the future, desalination of saline wastewater, to supply freshwater and resource recovery, has become increasingly vital. Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal with different industrial applications, while the solution including Cd compounds is highly toxic, even in very small amounts. Due to its solubility in water, Cd can enter aquatic ecosystems and endanger them. Thus, Cd is investigated as a dangerous and carcinogenic metal in the environment and has a negative effect on various tissues of the human body. Therefore, Cd recovery from aqueous media and saline wastewater is very crucial. In this review, different methods for Cd removal and recovery from saline wastewaters, including conventional to some novel innovative methods, have comprehensively been reviewed. Also, suitable, objective and scientific comparisons have critically been performed among different strategies for Cd removal.