Removal of Cd2+ from water containing Ca2+ and Mg2+ using titanate nanotubes modified by carbon.

Abstract

Calcium and magnesium ions usually exist in natural water. When Cd2+ is removed from water by adsorption, it will be inhibited by these two ions. Titanate nanotubes (TNTs) have an effective adsorption capacity for Cd2+ due to extraordinary ion exchange property. However, TNTs also adsorb Ca2+ and Mg2+ in water. In this study, carbon-modified TNT (TNT/C) and TNT/C further treated with acid (TNT/HC) were synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) images show that TNT/C or TNT/HC still keep nanotube morphology. The experimental results show the order of adsorption amount to Cd2+ is TNT (171.56mg/g) > TNT/C (166mg/g) > TNT/HC (159.88mg/g) when there is no Ca2+ or Mg2+. But when there is 0.1M Ca2+ or Mg2+ in the water, the order of Cd2+ adsorption capacity becomes TNT/HC (44.28, 49.04mg/g) > TNT/C (58.84, 69.32mg/g) > TNT (65.52, 70.6mg/g). It indicates that the surface carbon modification can alleviate the hindrance of Ca2+ or Mg2+ to Cd2+ removal. This is because the carbon on the surface of TNT captured part of Ca2+ or Mg2+; it made more Cd2+ be successfully absorbed by TNT through ion exchange. This mechanism was confirmed by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra analysis. The results of this paper can provide ideas for the adsorption and removal of Cd2+ in water in the presence of Ca2+ or Mg2+.