University Of Tehran Press Pollution 2383-451X 7 1 2021 01 01 The role of nanoadsorbents and nanocomposite adsorbents in the removal of heavy metals from wastewater: A review and prospect 153 179 79316 10.22059/poll.2020.307069.859 EN N. R. Nik Abdul Ghani Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. M. S. Jami Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 0000-0002-4677-316X M. Z. Alam Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 0000-0002-6491-3218 Journal Article 2020 07 27 Significant attention has been given to nanotechnology as an emerging approach in water/wastewater treatment for heavy metals removal. Numerous research works on synthesizing, fabrication and upgrading nanoparticles have reported as an efficient adsorbent in removal of wide range of heavy metals from wastewater. This review intends to provide researchers with understanding and knowledge regarding the efficient nanoadsorbents, their adsorption mechanism towards selected heavy metals and fundamental principles of nanoadsorbent materials synthesis. In addition, further attention on the modification of nanoadsorbent and development of nanocomposites are highlighted in this paper as value added products to increase the adsorption capacity and enhance the heavy metals removal. Possible challenges and direction on utilization of nanocomposites for heavy metal removal in real wastewater effluent are discussed in view of their removal capability and cost efficiency. Future research works on developing a cost-effective way of nanocomposite production and toxicity testing of nanomaterials in wastewater applications are recommended. Further studies on the efficiency of the nanoadsorbents in pilot or industrial scale are highly needed to test the practicality of the nanoadsorbents for selected heavy metals removal from real wastewater. https://jpoll.ut.ac.ir/article_79316_1922cc1dc1286b56a2d99b7f1aa0630c.pdf