α-Zirconium phosphate nanosheets composite on cotton fiber for the removal of heavy metals

Abstract

A novel adsorbent was prepared through a facile layer-by-layer method and was utilized for the removal of heavy metal ions. Firstly, highly crystalline α-ZrP nanoparticles were synthesized and then exfoliated into single-layer nanosheets. The extremely thin nanosheets were uniformly deposited on the surface of cotton through a simple layer-by-layer method with various layers. The resultant adsorbents were applied for the adsorption of Cu2+, Ni2+ and Cd2+ in different conditions and the results showed that the adsorbent performed the best at pH 5 when one layer was deposited. The O-ZrP1@C mixture exhibited the highest adsorption capacities of all, with 83.75 mg/g for Cu2+, 29.16 mg/g for Ni2+ and 55.66 mg/g for Cd2+. The results showed that the experimental data were fitted in pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. The results indicated that the ZrP-cotton mixture would be a promising candidate for practical application in the treatment of wastewater contaminated with heavy metal ions.