From Hazardous Waste to Functional Materials: A Critical Review on the Environmental Valorization of Zinc-Bearing Electric Arc Furnace Dust

The derived materials demonstrate promising applications across multiple domains relevant to environmental sustainability, including energy storage (lithium-ion battery anodes and supercapacitors), environmental remediation (desulfurization, heavy-metal adsorption, and photocatalysis), electromagnetic devices, and biomedicine. Key challenges are identified, including feedstock variability, inconsistent performance metrics, and the inherent trade-off between the purification depth and process sustainability.

Future research directions are proposed, emphasizing standardized performance evaluation, mechanistic understanding, expansion into high-demand applications such as aqueous zinc-ion batteries, and the development of closed-loop, low-carbon transformation processes. This review establishes a framework for the sustainable conversion of ZEAFD from an environmental liability into a valuable resource for functional material synthesis, with implications for reducing industrial waste burdens and advancing circular economy principles.