2. Adsorbents for effluent decontamination

The idea of using natural substances called bioadsorbents in bioadsorption processes for water treatment is not new, since they have been used in India, Africa and China to clarify water for over 2,000 years [RE 126] . These resources offer numerous advantages and interesting properties: they are abundant, renewable, biodegradable and inexpensive. From a chemical point of view, they have particular chemical structures containing numerous highly reactive groups (or ligands).