Ligand‐Engineered Mesoporous Silica: Cutting‐Edge Architectures for Targeted Toxic Heavy Metal Sequestration—A Review

The mesoporous silica (MPS) modified with organic ligands has been effectively employed since last decade as a nonconventional, highly efficient, and selective adsorbent for the removing of heavy metal ions (HMIs) from their aqueous media. Therefore, this research paper is focused on reviewing various research works carried out on the use of ligand anchored MPS for the better and selective adsorption of different toxic HMIs like Pb(II), Co(II), Hg(II), Pd(II), Ce(III), Se(IV), and As(V). Ligand‐functionalized MPS possesses excellent surface properties. The ability of the ligand‐modified MPS to remove various HMIs is reported in comparison to other materials. The adsorption data of HMIs are best fitted in the pseudo‐second‐order and Langmuir models. Both these models suggested the homogeneous distribution of adsorption sites and monolayer formation of adsorbate onto the surface of the conjugate adsorbent. It is recommended to focus on the research of further enhancing the ability of hybrid adsorbent.