Issue 6, 2020

Metal (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb) removal from environmentally relevant waters using polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated magnetite nanoparticles

Abstract

Water pollution is a major global challenge given the increasing growth in industry and human population, and certain metals can be highly toxic and contribute to this significantly. In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated magnetic nanoparticles (PVP–Fe3O4 NPs) were used to remove metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb) from synthetic soft water and sea water in the presence and absence of fulvic acid. Nanoparticle (NP) suspensions were added to water media at a range of metal concentrations (0.1–100 mg L−1). Removal at different time points (1.5, 3, 6, 12, 24 hours) was also evaluated. Results showed that 167 mg L−1 PVP–Fe3O4 NPs could remove nearly 100% of four metals at 0.1 mg L−1 and more than 80% at 1 mg L−1. The removal decreased as the initial metal concentration increased, although essentially 100% of the Pb was removed under all conditions. The kinetic adsorption fitted well to the pseudo-second-order model and in general, the majority of metal adsorption occurred within the first 1.5 hours. These NPs are a reliable method to remove metals under a wide range of environmentally relevant conditions. Our previous research showed the NPs effectively removed oil from waters, so these NPs offer the possibility of combined in situ remediation of oil and metals.

Graphical abstract: Metal (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb) removal from environmentally relevant waters using polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated magnetite nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 noy 2019
Accepted
04 yan 2020
First published
20 yan 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 3266-3276

Metal (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb) removal from environmentally relevant waters using polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated magnetite nanoparticles

J. Hong, J. Xie, S. Mirshahghassemi and J. Lead, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 3266 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10104G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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