The design of SnO2-crosslinked-chitosan nanocomposite for microwave-assisted adsorption of aqueous cadmium and mercury ions

Abstract

Modern day worldwide industrial activities have negatively affected the environment due to daily pollutant accumulation. Evidence of this is seen in the heavy metal deposits found in water resources from mining, well drilling, electroplating, and heavy metals production. Mercury and cadmium ions are among the most hazardous heavy metals of significant concern. The removal of these two toxic metals from wastewater requires effective, low-cost techniques, and, therefore, this current study looks at the design and fabrication of SnO2-formaldehyde-chitosan to facilitate the rapid microwave-assisted elimination of Hg(II) and Cd(II) ions. This paper explores the microwave-assisted removal of Hg(II) and Cd(II) ions, a highly efficient process which establishes 1050 μmol g−1 and 600 μmol g−1 capacity values at pH 6, at 10 s and 15 s, respectively. The application of SnO2-formaldehyde-chitosan for the microwave-assisted elimination of Hg(II) and Cd(II) ions from natural water and wastewater is also explored. In this respect, the microwave-assisted removal values of Cd(II) achieved were 95.6%, and 99.2% from tap water and wastewater, respectively. In addition, Hg(II) removal percentages were found to be 94.2% and 98.4% from the same two water samples.