Techniques of nickel(II) removal from electroplating industry wastewater: Overview and trends

As the world population increases and water resources diminish, the recovery of wastewater has attracted the attention of researchers and government agencies. Besides, the increasing amount of toxic pollutants in groundwater above the threshold raises questions about the efficiency of current wastewater treatments. Nickel-rich wastewater, in particular, has a great contribution to the contamination of water bodies due to its wide application in the electroplating industry, stainless steel manufacturing, and storage battery industries. Its negative consequences are strongly related to human health. Inappropriate selection of metal removal technologies affects aspects of cost, efficiency, and sustainability. Therefore, this review addresses the latest technologies (2017–2021) for treating nickel-rich wastewater. The techniques were divided into four categories: physicochemical, electrochemical, bioremediation, and others. Furthermore, patents and economic aspects were discussed. Consequently, this review sought to offer insights for developing new technologies with lower energy consumption and high removal efficiency, allowing their commercialization.