Facile Synthesis of Thiol-Functionalized Magnetic Activated Carbon and Application for the Removal of Mercury(II) from Aqueous Solution

Kuan Chen; Zhenzong Zhang; Kai Xia; Xiaoji Zhou; Yongfu Guo; Tianyin Huang

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b00572

Facile Synthesis of Thiol-Functionalized Magnetic Activated Carbon and Application for the Removal of Mercury(II) from Aqueous Solution

ACS Omega. 2019 May 15;4(5):8568-8579. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b00572. eCollection 2019 May 31.

Authors

Kuan Chen¹, Zhenzong Zhang¹, Kai Xia¹, Xiaoji Zhou¹, Yongfu Guo¹, Tianyin Huang¹

Affiliation

¹ Center for Separation and Purification Materials & Technologies and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China.

Abstract

To improve the adsorption capacity, reduce the disposal cost, and enhance the separation efficiency of common activated carbon as an adsorbent in wastewater treatment, a novel thiol-modified magnetic activated carbon adsorbent of NiFe₂O₄-PAC-SH was successfully synthesized with a facile and safe hydrothermal method without any toxic and harmful reaction media. The as-prepared NiFe₂O₄-PAC-SH can effectively remove mercury(II) ions from aqueous solution. The maximal adsorption capacities from the experiment and Langmuir fitting achieve 298.8 and 366.3 mg/g at pH 7, respectively, exceeding most of adsorptive materials. The as-prepared NiFe₂O₄-PAC-SH has an outstanding regeneration performance, remarkable hydrothermal stability, and efficient separation efficiency. The data of kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics show that the adsorption of mercury(II) ions is spontaneous and exothermic. Ion exchange and electrostatic attraction are the main adsorption factors. The experimental results exhibit that the NiFe₂O₄-PAC-SH can be a prominent substitute for conventional activated carbon as an adsorbent.