Efficient metal adsorption and microbial reduction from Rawal Lake wastewater using metal nanoparticle coated cotton

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate removal of toxic metals and reduction of bacterial count from Rawal Lake wastewater with novel nanocomposite sorbents. Iron, zinc and silver oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were attached on cotton. The nanocomposites (iron NPs on cotton (FeCt), zinc NPs on cotton (ZnCt) and silver NPs on cotton (AgCt)) were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM, which showed successful adsorption of 10–30 nm size nanoparticles. Batch experiments were performed to determine the adsorption capacity of nanocomposite for metal removal. All the three adsorbents demonstrated 100% adsorption efficiency for Ag+, Co2+, Fe3+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ whereas less adsorption for Cd2+ and Cr3+. The maximum adsorbance (qe) was exhibited by Co2+ on ZnCt, FeCt and AgCt as 125.0, 111.1 and 100.0 mg g−1, respectively. The efficiency of adsorbents for metal ions sorption was found as AgCt > ZnCt > FeCt while the order of adsorption for metals was observed as Fe3+ > Co2+ > Zn2+ > Cu2+ > Ag+ > Cr3+ > Cd2+. The adsorption mechanism mostly follow Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic model. The maximum microbial reduction was exhibited by AgCt followed by ZnCt and FeCt. The microbes were further processed for staining and biochemical characteristics to evaluate resistance and sensitive microbes. The study concludes that the NPs doped on cotton can be effectively used for adsorption of heavy metals and reduction of microbial count from natural wastewater making it valuable for human consumption. In addition, the nanoparticles impregnated cotton can be efficiently used in water filtration plants.