Adsorbent for efficient removal of mercury(ii) from aqueous solution

Abstract

Decontamination of mercury from aqueous media remains a serious task for health and ecosystem protection. Removal of Hg(II) from the aqueous solution by ZnO:S has been investigated and elucidated. The effect of various parameters such as solution pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, initial adsorbate concentration has been studied and optimized. The optimized parameters for metal ion are pH value of 2.4, the equilibrium time was attained after 30 min, and the maximum removal percentage was achieved at an adsorbent loading weight of 0.08 g. It was found that the adsorption capacity of ZnO:S increased with increase in the initial mercury concentration. The equilibrium and kinetic data were found to be in good agreement with Freundlich isotherm model.