（Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Controllable Preparation and Function Application of Fine Polymer,Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Function Molecule, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China）
Heavy metal is a type of hazardous pollutants to human beings because it is non-biodegradable, high toxic even at microsacle, and easily accumulate in organisms, especially in human body, ultimately leading to cumulative poisoning. Heavy metal wastewater is one of the most serious pollution to the environment and the most harmful to humans. Many heavy metal wastewater treatment methods have been developed so far, including chemical precipitation, ferrite method, ion exchange, membrane separation, electrochemical method, and adsorption. Among these methods, adsorption is widely applied in the treatment of heavy metals because of its simple operation, high efficiency, and low cost. The key to heavy metal wastewater treatment by adsorption is the performance of the adsorbent used. According to the sources, the adsorption materials applied in the heavy metal wastewater treatment can be divided into natural adsorption material, synthetic adsorption material and biosorption material. In this paper, the research advances in adsorption materials for heavy metal are reviewed, the existing problems and deficiencies are analyzed, and the development trend and direction are put forward.