Abstract
This study investigated the applicability of maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles for the selective removal of toxic heavy metals from electroplating wastewater. The maghemite nanoparticles of 60 nm were synthesized using a coprecipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Batch experiments were carried out for the removal of Pb2+ions from aqueous solutions by maghemite nanoparticles. The effects of contact time, initial concentration of Pb2+ions, solution pH, and salinity on the amount of Pb2+removed were investigated. The adsorption process was found to be highly pH dependent, which made the nanoparticles selectively adsorb this metal from wastewater. The adsorption of Pb2+reached equilibrium rapidly within 15 min and the adsorption data were well fitted with the Langmuir isotherm.
Highlights
With heavy metal pollution becoming one of the most serious environmental problems, various methods for heavy metal removal from wastewater have been extensively studied during the past decades, such as chemical precipitation, electrochemical techniques, membrane filtration, ion exchange, and adsorption [1]
Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by varying pH values, ageing time, the mass ratio of FeCl3 and urea, and so forth
This study showed that the prepared γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles could be used as an alternate to the conventional adsorbents for the removal of metal ions from wastewater with high removal efficiency within a very short time
Summary
With heavy metal pollution becoming one of the most serious environmental problems, various methods for heavy metal removal from wastewater have been extensively studied during the past decades, such as chemical precipitation, electrochemical techniques, membrane filtration, ion exchange, and adsorption [1]. As the adsorption is sometimes reversible and adsorbent can be regenerated by suitable desorption process, various types of adsorbents have found application in the removal of heavy metals, including activated carbon [2, 3], carbon nanotubes [4,5,6], polymeric adsorbents [7], metal oxides [8], and bioadsorbents [9,10,11,12] Among these adsorbents, iron-based magnetic nanomaterials have distinguished themselves by their unique properties, such as larger surface area-volume ratio, diminished consumption of chemicals, and no secondary pollutant. In industries, magnetic separation is desirable because it can overcome many drawbacks occurring in the membrane filtration, centrifugation, or gravitational separation and is easy to achieve a given level of separation just via external magnetic field
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
