Novel Porous Materials for Removal of Heavy Metals from Water
Mentor 1
Marcia R. Silva
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
Because of their high solubility in the aquatic environments, heavy metals can be absorbed by living organisms. Large concentrations of heavy metals may accumulate in the human body and cause serious health disorders once they enter the food chain. Therefore, it is necessary to treat heavy metal-contaminated wastewater prior to its discharge to the environment. Natural porous materials gained a significant interest, mainly due to their valuable properties as ion exchange capability. For previous year, the adsorption behavior of natural porous materials for the heavy metals, lead and mercury, were studied to establish a baseline for the removal of heavy metals from drinking and waste water. Samples were examined under different conditions such as sorbent dosage, solution pH, and exposure time. Solution PH effect on removal efficiency has been investigated in acidic (pH=4), neutral (pH=7) and basic (pH=10) pH levels. All adsorbent materials showed highest adsorption capacities at neutral pH levels. New materials with potentially enhanced adsorption properties were developed by functionalizing the surface of the natural porous materials to fabricate the engineered material. The functionalized materials were characterized with N2 absorption Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) method, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) techniques. Batch experiment was used to assess the efficacy for the removal of lead with the sorption kinetics and the adsorption isotherms being determined for the natural and modified porous materials.
Novel Porous Materials for Removal of Heavy Metals from Water
Union Wisconsin Room
Because of their high solubility in the aquatic environments, heavy metals can be absorbed by living organisms. Large concentrations of heavy metals may accumulate in the human body and cause serious health disorders once they enter the food chain. Therefore, it is necessary to treat heavy metal-contaminated wastewater prior to its discharge to the environment. Natural porous materials gained a significant interest, mainly due to their valuable properties as ion exchange capability. For previous year, the adsorption behavior of natural porous materials for the heavy metals, lead and mercury, were studied to establish a baseline for the removal of heavy metals from drinking and waste water. Samples were examined under different conditions such as sorbent dosage, solution pH, and exposure time. Solution PH effect on removal efficiency has been investigated in acidic (pH=4), neutral (pH=7) and basic (pH=10) pH levels. All adsorbent materials showed highest adsorption capacities at neutral pH levels. New materials with potentially enhanced adsorption properties were developed by functionalizing the surface of the natural porous materials to fabricate the engineered material. The functionalized materials were characterized with N2 absorption Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) method, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (Raman), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) techniques. Batch experiment was used to assess the efficacy for the removal of lead with the sorption kinetics and the adsorption isotherms being determined for the natural and modified porous materials.
