scholarly journals Eco-Friendly Sustainable Fluorescent Carbon Dots for the Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions in Aqueous Environment

Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musa Yahaya Pudza ◽  
Zurina Zainal Abidin ◽  
Suraya Abdul Rashid ◽  
Faizah Md Yasin ◽  
A. S. M. Noor ◽  
...  

The materials and substances required for sustainable water treatment by adsorption technique, are still being researched widely by distinguished classes of researchers. Thus, the need to synthesize substances that can effectively clean up pollutants from the environment cannot be overemphasized. So far, materials in bulk forms that are rich in carbon, such as biochar and varieties of activated carbon have been used for various adsorptive purposes. The use of bulk materials for such purposes are not efficient due to minimal surface areas available for adsorption. This study explores the adsorption task at nano dimension using carbon dots (CDs) from tapioca. The properties of carbon structure and its influence on the adsorptive efficacy of carbon nanoparticles were investigated by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HrTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results implied carbon present in CDs are good adsorbents for effective adsorption of heavy metal ions (lead) with removal efficiency of 80.6% in aqueous environment. The adsorption process as explored by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms have proven favorability of the adsorption process. Langmuir form two and three have correlation coefficients R2 at 0.9922 and 0.9912, respectively. The Freundlich isotherm confirms CDs as having defined surface heterogeneity and the exponential distribution of active sites. The adsorption of lead unto CDs obeyed the second order kinetic model with coefficient of determination, R2 of 0.9668 and 0.9996 at an initial lead concentration of 20 mg/L and 100 mg/L, respectively. The findings validated the efficiency of CDs derived from tapioca as an excellent material for further utilization in the environmental fields of wastewater pollution detection and clean up, bio-imaging, and chemical sensing applications.

Author(s):  
Zeynab Karimi ◽  
Reza Khalili ◽  
Mohammad Ali Zazouli

Abstract In this study, polythiophene/Al2O3 (PTh/Al2O3) and polyaniline/Al2O3 (PAn/Al2O3) nanocomposites in the presence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the surfactant were synthesized via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method in aqueous medium. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results indicated that the Al2O3 and poly(vinyl alcohol) influenced the properties of synthesized nanocomposites. The aim of this research was to investigate the sorption characteristic of polythiophene and polyaniline nanocomposites for the removal of heavy metal cations including Pb(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) from aqueous solution. The factors that affected the adsorption equilibrium as well as the removal efficiency of the nanoadsorbents, i.e., contact time, metal ion concentration, pH and adsorption conditions were investigated in detail. From the kinetic results, it was concluded that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was found to the best at describing the adsorption process for Pb(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) on PTh-PVA/Al2O3 and PAn-PVA/Al2O3. In addition, thermodynamic analysis suggests the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the present adsorption process with increased entropy on PTh-PVA/Al2O3 and PAn-PVA/Al2O3. The results suggest polythiophene, polyaniline and their nanocomposites have great potential to be used as efficient absorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from water.


RSC Advances ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (28) ◽  
pp. 17080-17091
Author(s):  
Xinggang Chen ◽  
Zhuang Tian ◽  
Haina Cheng ◽  
Gang Xu ◽  
Hongbo Zhou

The Cu2+ first bound to the outer mannan and finally entered the cytoplasm. During the whole adsorption process, the number of adsorption sites in the outer and middle cell walls was the largest, and then gradually decreased.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1121-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Yarur ◽  
Jun-Ray Macairan ◽  
Rafik Naccache

Classical methods for the detection of heavy metal ions in water are tedious and time consuming.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-92
Author(s):  
S N Ndung’u ◽  
E W Nthiga ◽  
R N Wanjau

Water is essential for every life processes. However, its quality is deteriorating every day due to the recent industrial advancements. Anthropogenic processes such as industrialization, mining and agricultural activities have led to alarming discharge of heavy metal ions to the aquatic bodies. This possess a greater threat to human, animal and the entire ecosystem wellbeing. Accumulation of heavy metal ions in drinking water beyond permissible limits is detrimental to human health. Therefore, their removal is paramount. Conventional remediation techniques have been employed but have remained expensive and not universally appropriate. This has therefore spurred research interests in the use of adsorption techniques from locally available materials as an environmentally sustainable alternative. Jackfruit seeds are discarded as wastes of a Jackfruit and can be utilized as an ion exchange resin in heavy metal ions removal from wastewater. The present study involved application of previously prepared raw and modified Jackfruit seed resins to study thermodynamics of copper (II), lead (II) and cadmium (II) ions adsorption from synthetic water. FTIR results showed presence of functional groups in raw and modified resins as important sites for studying thermodynamics of adsorption of copper (II), lead (II) and cadmium (II) ions. Thermodynamic data showed that standard Gibb’s free energy () values for all metals were negative indicating that adsorption process was feasible and favourable. Standard enthalpy change (), standard entropy () and activation energy () were positive (> 40 kJ mol-1) and in the order lead (II) > copper (II) > cadmium (II). This confirmed adsorption of copper (II), lead (II) and cadmium (II) ions onto both raw and modified resins was predominated by chemical interactions between the metal ions and the resin active sites. This was confirmed by very low values of sticking probability (S*). The findings indicated that ion exchange Jackfruit seeds resin is promising for heavy metal ions removal from wastewater in an optimized temperature controlled system.


Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongxiao Ouyang ◽  
Yuting Zhuo ◽  
Liang Hu ◽  
Qiang Zeng ◽  
Yuehua Hu ◽  
...  

Tailings generated from mineral processing have attracted worldwide concerns due to creating serious environmental pollution. In this work, porous adsorbents were prepared as a porous block by using silicate tailings, which can adsorb heavy metal ions from the solution and are easy to separate. The synthesized silicate porous material (SPM) was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunner–Emmet–Teller (BET), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The material presented a surface area of 3.40 m2⸱g−1, a porosity of 54%, and the compressive strength of 0.6 MPa. The maximum adsorption capacities of Pb2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+ by SPM were 44.83 mg·g−1, 35.36 mg·g−1, and 32.26 mg·g−1, respectively. The experimental data were fitted well by the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models. The kinetics of the adsorption process were fitted well by the pseudo-first order kinetic equation. These results show that the porous materials prepared with silicate tailings could act as an effective and low-cost adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater. This study may provide a new thought on the high-value utilization of tailing for alleviating environmental pressure.


Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Gao ◽  
Hao Jiang ◽  
Xianyuan Li ◽  
Sultan Ahmed Khoso ◽  
Guoyuan Xiang ◽  
...  

In the field of water management, the separation of metal contaminants from wastewater is very important and challenging. This study systematically investigated the effect and underlying mechanism of silicate rectorite (REC) on the removal of heavy metal ions (Cr(VI) and Pb(II)) from wastewater. The adsorption and removal capacity of REC was further improved by its novel modification with ferric chloride hexahydrate. Compared to natural REC, the modified rectorite (Fe-REC) showed comparatively superior adsorption efficiency for both Cr(VI) and Pb(II) due to the chemisorption of Fe3+ on the REC surface as its oxidation state (Fe–O, Fe–OH, Fe–OOH). Adsorption on Cr(VI) attributed to the reaction between iron hydroxy complexes (FeOH2+, Fe(OH)2+ and Fe(OH)3(aq)) and Cr(VI) species (HCrO4− and CrO42−) in the aqueous solution. This reaction was perfectly consistent with the binding energy shifts in O 1s and Fe 2p species, as reflected by XPS analysis. While, the existence of –Al–OH and –Si–OH in silicate REC slurry reacted with PbOH+ colloids produced from lead ions hydrolysis to promote Pb(II) adsorption. Zeta potential after modification and removal occurred to shift positively or negatively to testify the adsorption of Fe3+ and heavy metal ions. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms conformed adsorption process for Cr(VI) and Pb(II), respectively.


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