Recent Modifications of Chitosan for Adsorption Applications: A Critical and Systematic Review

Chitosan is considered to be one of the most promising and applicable materials in adsorption applications. The existence of amino and hydroxyl groups in its molecules contributes to many possible adsorption interactions between chitosan and pollutants (dyes, metals, ions, phenols, pharmaceuticals/drugs, pesticides, herbicides, etc.). These functional groups can help in establishing positions for modification. Based on the learning from previously published works in literature, researchers have achieved a modification of chitosan with a number of different functional groups. This work summarizes the published works of the last three years (2012–2014) regarding the modification reactions of chitosans (grafting, cross-linking, etc.) and their application to adsorption of different environmental pollutants (in liquid-phase).