Advances in Chelating Resins for Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions

Heavy metal ion pollution in water and soil is a formidable environmental problem. Due to their desired heavy metal capture capacity and excellent chemical and physical stability, resin chelating ligands have been widely used in heavy metal adsorption. In this Review, we outline the latest progress in chelating resin adsorbents toward heavy metals. This paper reviews the methods of selectively separating the target ions in various solutions and screens the excellent performances of chelating resins; the types and synthesis methods of chelating resins are also summarized. Different adsorption mechanisms existing between chelating resins and heavy metal ions are summarized, and the influencing factors of the adsorption processes are analyzed. On this basis, we propose the opportunities, challenges, and prospects faced by researchers studying chelating resin materials in the adsorption of heavy metals, and the reasonable design of advanced chelated resin-based adsorption systems should achieve an eco-friendly and sustainable environment.