Efficient Removal of Heavy Metal Ions in Wastewater by Using a Novel Alginate-EDTA Hybrid Aerogel

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 547
• Main Authors: Wang, Min, Wang, Zhuqing, Zhou, Xiaohong, Li, Shikun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 06-02-2019
• Subjects: Adsorbents; Adsorption; aerogel; Alginic acid; Aqueous solutions; Binding sites; Cadmium; Calcium; Calcium alginate; Carbon dioxide; Chemistry; Cobalt; Copper; Drying agents; Edetic acid; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acids; Fourier transforms; Freeze drying; heavy metal ions; Heavy metals; Hydrogels; Metal industry wastewaters; Metal ions; Morphology; Organic chemistry; Pore size; Selectivity; Sodium; sodium alginate; sorbent; Vacuum; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Zeolites; United States > US; China; Germany
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app9030547

In this study, we prepared a novel calcium alginate-disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate dihydrate hybrid aerogel (Alg-EDTA) by chemical grafting and vacuum-freeze-drying to remove heavy metal ions from wastewater. Experimental results show that the as-prepared Alg-EDTA adsorbent has a high affinity for heavy metal ions, such as Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Cr3+, and Co2+, and can adsorb >85% of metal ions from the corresponding solution. Alg-EDTA also exhibits high selectivity toward Cd2+, and the maximum adsorption capacity for Cd2+ reached 177.3 mg/g, which exceeds the adsorption capacity of most reported Cd2+-adsorbents. Adsorbent regeneration can be achieved by a simple acid-washing process, and adsorption performance of Alg-EDTA remains stable after repeated use. All these findings indicate that Alg-EDTA has a promising prospect in the treatment of heavy metal ions wastewater.